A biennial quality of life survey undertaken on behalf of eight New Zealand metropolitan councils indicates that Tauranga residents have mixed feelings about a number of issues affecting their everyday lives.
Mayor Mahé Drysdale says the positive message is that 79% of the 504 local respondents rated their overall quality of life as good, compared to an average of 77% across the eight cities.
“Tauranga residents generally rate their physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing higher than their counterparts in other cities do, with positive ratings ranging between 71% and 75%,” Mahé says.
“On the other side of the coin, we’re less positive than other large cities about a range of built environment issues like traffic congestion and the look and feel of our city. Many public transport ratings were also lower and perceptions of local issues like vandalism, city centre parking availability, theft and burglary and dangerous driving were less positive than the eight-city average,” Mahé says.
“Two out of three residents surveyed (65%) feel safe in their neighbourhoods after dark but in the city centre, although 82% feel safe during the day, only 33% feel safe at night.”
Mahé adds that Tauranga residents seem to be more affected by economic wellbeing issues, with 41% indicating that they don’t have enough money to meet their everyday needs (compared to an 8-city average of 35%); but locals do have a stronger sense of community than those in other centres.
“Confidence in Council decision-making and perceptions about public influence on decisions have risen since the last survey but are still worryingly low at 22% and 26% respectively,” Mahé says.
“Increasing the community’s trust and confidence in Council is a key priority for us and that will be something we reflect on continuously over the remainder of our four-year term.
“As a new Council, we want people to share their thoughts about Tauranga, so we welcome feedback collected under surveys like this, because it allows us to set benchmarks that we can judge our progress against. This survey only involves 504 residents, and we hope that when we consult on the Annual Plan in March/April, we will see more people sharing their views with us at meetings and via submissions.
“Survey respondents reiterated what Councillors heard through their election campaigns - the need to have a focus on financial sustainability and provide good value for ratepayers, but also that people want to see progress across our city. We want to work together with the people of Tauranga to make our city an even better place to live.”
For access to the full Quality of Life Survey findings, visit www.qualityoflifeproject.govt.nz.