Hamilton City Council: 2015 Residents’ Survey Summary of Key Findings Prepared for Hamilton City Council by Versus Research Ltd August 2015
1
BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Hamilton City Council (Council) has been undertaking residents’ surveys since 1984, and considers this a useful mechanism to gather residents’ feedback on Council’s activities generally, and in terms of specific services and facilities provided by Council. The objectives of this research project are to:
Measure how well Council is performing on a range of service delivery areas. Provide feedback about residents’ engagements and interactions with Council staff and Elected Members. Identify areas for improvement in service delivery and engagement generally.
As with last year, the questions asked in this year’s Residents’ Survey were solely to inform the 201415 Hamilton City Council Annual Plan Report key performance measures and included no other questions in addition to this purpose.
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SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
Outlined below are the key results for residents’ satisfaction and use of Council provided facilities and services, and residents’ perceptions of Hamilton and Council. Please note that the results reported in this summary are based only on the telephone survey data to ensure comparability with previous years. Please refer to the full report for the tabulated results and discussion of methodology.
2.1
COUNCIL FACILITIES AND SERVICES (EXCLUDING PUBLIC LIBRARIES)
Hamilton Gardens and other Parks and Gardens in the City continue to be the facilities and services that Hamilton City residents use most often with 80% and 75% of residents (respectively) using these facilities at least once in the last 12 months. This year, a significant increase was observed in resident’s use of Sports Areas and the Hamilton Zoo, with 47% and 41% of residents (respectively) using these facilities (cf. 41% and 29% respectively in 2014). Residents’ use of Waterworld (41%), Waikato Museum (40%), and Founders Theatre (40%) had similar levels of use to that which was seen in 2014, while Clarence Street Theatre (14%) and Gallagher Aquatic Centre (11%) continue to have lower levels of use.
Figure 1 Use of Council facilities and services1 80% 75% 82% 75% 71% 86%
Hamilton Gardens Parks and Gardens in the City 47% 41% 37% 41% 37% 48% 41% 29% 48% 40% 43% 46% 40% 41% 43%
Sports Areas Waterworld Hamilton Zoo Waikato Museum Founders Theatre 14% 12%
Clarence St Theatre Gallagher Aquatic Centre 0%
20% 2015
1
26%
11% 12% 16% 40% 2014
60%
80%
100%
2013
Green shading indicates that the result for 2015 is significantly higher than the result for 2014.
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Users were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the facilities on an 11-point satisfaction scale. Figure 2 illustrates the proportion of users who were satisfied (ratings of 7-10/102) with the facilities, excluding those who felt unable to rate the facilities (‘don’t know’). Positive ratings are seen for satisfaction with Hamilton Gardens (98%), Hamilton Zoo (93%) and Waikato Museum (91%), with these facilities receiving more than 90% satisfaction amongst users of these facilities. Satisfaction with Parks and Gardens in the City has increased significantly this year, with 91% of users satisfied compared to 83% in 2014. Sports Areas, Gallagher Aquatic Centre, and Waterworld continue to display positive ratings, with these facilities receiving at least 75% satisfaction amongst users. Both Hamilton theatres received lower satisfaction ratings, with 68% of users satisfied with Clarence Street Theatre (cf. 2014, 71%), while Founders Theatre has experienced a significant decrease in ratings this year, with a satisfaction score of 69% (cf. 2014, 78%).
Figure 2 Satisfaction with Council facilities and services3 98% 97% 97% 93% 91% 93% 91% 84% 86% 91% 83% 85% 81% 76% 77% 77% 68% 72% 76% 76% 82% 69% 78% 71% 68% 71% 63%
Hamilton Gardens Hamilton Zoo Waikato Museum Parks and Gardens in the City Sports Areas Gallagher Aquatic Centre Waterworld Founders Theatre Clarence St Theatre 0%
20% 2015
40% 2014
60%
80%
100%
2013
2
Residents are asked to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 meaning very dissatisfied and 10 meaning very satisfied. Combined satisfaction is based on the number of 7, 8, 9 and 10 scores (excluding ‘don’t know’ responses). 3 Red shading indicates that the result for 2015 is significantly lower than the result for 2014. Green shading indicates that the result for 2015 is significantly higher than the result for 2014.
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2.2
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Fifty one per cent of residents surveyed had used a Hamilton public library in the last 12 months. In terms of usage, Garden Place Library continued to be the library that most residents use; with 61% of library users stating that they had visited this library at least once in the last 12 months. This is followed by Chartwell Library which is used by 54% of library users and showed a significant increase from the 2014 result of 41%. Almost one quarter of library users had visited the Dinsdale Library or St Andrews Library in the last 12 months, (24% and 23% respectively). Lower levels of use were noted for Hillcrest Library and Glenview Library with 19% and 12% use respectively.
Figure 3 Use of public libraries4 61% 55%
Garden Place (Central) Library 37%
54% Chartwell Library
41% 21%
Dinsdale Library
24% 22% 19%
St Andrews Library
23% 21% 8% 19% 19%
Hillcrest Library 12% 12% 11% 8%
Glenview Library 0%
20% 2015
4
40% 2014
60%
80%
100%
2013
Green shading indicates that the result for 2015 is significantly higher than the result for 2014.
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Users were asked to rate their satisfaction with the libraries’ opening hours. Satisfaction with opening hours (ratings of 7-10/10 excluding ‘don’t know’ responses) was positive on the whole, with all libraries receiving over 90% satisfaction with their opening hours. In particular, Garden Place Library (97% cf. 2014, 89%), St. Andrews Library (95% cf. 2014, 83%) and Chartwell Library (94% cf. 2014, 85%) experienced significant increases in their satisfaction ratings for opening hours this year. Satisfaction with the libraries overall continued to display positive ratings (displayed in Figure 4), with significant increases noted particularly for St Andrews Library (100% cf. 2014, 89%) and Hillcrest Library (95% cf. 2014, 82%). All other libraries remained on par with last year’s results, with 95% of Glenview Library users satisfied, 92% each of Chartwell Library users and Dinsdale Library users and 87% of Garden Place Library users satisfied with their respective libraries.
Figure 4 Satisfaction with public libraries5 100% St Andrews Library
89% 98% 95% 97% 95%
Glenview Library
95% Hillcrest Library
82% 93% 92% 89% 90%
Chartwell Library
92% Dinsdale Library
84% 81% 87% 91% 95%
Garden Place (Central) Library 0%
20% 2015
5
40% 2014
60%
80%
100%
2013
Green shading indicates that the result for 2015 is significantly higher than the result for 2014.
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2.3
PERCEPTION OF HAMILTON AND COUNCIL
Hamilton residents were asked a series of questions regarding Hamilton as a city, and their perception of Council; these are presented in Figure 5. Overall, 90% of Hamilton residents were satisfied with Hamilton as a place to live, with 70% taking pride in Hamilton’s look and feel. In terms of residents’ perceptions of Council, 65% of residents were satisfied with the provision of information, while 56% were satisfied with community input into decision-making, a significant increase from last year (cf. 2014, 45%). On par with last year, a total of 60% of Hamilton residents were satisfied overall with Council.
Figure 5 Satisfaction with Hamilton and Council6 90% 90% 91%
Hamilton as a place to live
70% 71% 72%
Pride in Hamilton's Look and Feel (City Beautification)
65% 63% 64%
Community updates (Provision of information)
60% 59%
Overall satisfaction with Council
72% 56% 45% 51%
Community input in to decision-making
0% 2015
6
20% 2014
40%
60%
80%
100%
2013
Green shading indicates that the result for 2015 is significantly higher than the result for 2014.
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