Invercargill Residents Express Concerns Over Council Involvement

• Invercargill residents expressed dissatisfaction with council decision-making in the latest survey.
• Satisfaction for Splash Palace dropped significantly, while venues and events showed improvement.
• Invercargill City Council urged residents to participate more in consultations and engagements.

Invercargill residents have expressed dissatisfaction with how the local council involves people in decision-making, according to the latest annual residents' survey. One of the lowest scoring areas in the survey was the council’s efforts to involve the public, with only 22 percent of respondents satisfied.

“The primary areas of concern were that the council doesn’t listen and that engagement opportunities are not advertised," the survey explained.

Splash Palace, the city's popular swimming complex, also saw a sharp decline in satisfaction, dropping from 74 percent two years ago to just 56 percent this year. However, other areas fared better, such as parks and open spaces, which reached 75 percent satisfaction, and venues and events, which improved from 31 percent to 51 percent.

Satisfaction with public transport costs also dropped, from 65 percent to 48 percent, while the perceived quality of the service increased slightly, moving up by eight points to 46 percent. Despite these mixed results, 78 percent of respondents stated they never used the bus service.

Council chief executive Michael Day said the feedback provided through the survey was invaluable. “Although we are seeing some results that show room for improvement ... we are also seeing areas where we have taken on board feedback from previous years and satisfaction is increasing."

Day encouraged residents to get more involved in council activities, highlighting that the survey was just one part of the council’s performance reporting. “Our takeaway from this year’s results is that there is still room for us to improve to the satisfaction of our residents," he said.

The survey is conducted online and allows residents to participate at any point throughout the year.