Satisfaction with council services on the rise

Photo: Christchurch City Council

Christchurch City Council's annual residents' survey has found an increasing number of people are "satisfied" with the services it provides.

Christchurch City Council's annual residents' survey has found an increasing number of people are "satisfied" with the services it provides.

Christchurch residents' overall satisfaction with the council’s performance has risen by 7% over the past year.

The survey programme involved point-of-contact surveys done throughout the past year with 8889 responses, the life in Christchurch booster survey of 159 respondents done in January 2025, and the general service satisfaction survey with a representative sample of 784 people also done in January 2025.

Said Mayor Phil Mauger: “This is an outstanding result and we’re incredibly proud to serve this city.

“The positive feedback we’re receiving encourages us to continue delivering the best services we can, always with our community’s needs and aspirations at the heart of what we do.”

Satisfaction with the leadership of the mayor and councillors also increased from 27% to 35%, while the perception it is open and transparent increased to 29% from 21%.

“We’re encouraged to see our efforts starting to resonate with the community,” Mauger says.

“We’ve worked hard to connect with our residents, listen to their feedback, and take meaningful action. It’s heartening to see these efforts starting to pay off.”

But the council is looking to improve in areas such as road and footpath conditions and ensuring ratepayers get greater value for money.

“We have no illusions and know there’s still work to do, but these results give us confidence that we’re heading in the right direction,” Mauger says.

“Christchurch is a truly exceptional city – rich in history, culture, and community spirit. We feel incredibly privileged to call this place home and to serve its people.”

The survey also found:

84% of council services met their annual targets, the highest percentage since pre-earthquake times.

Overall satisfaction climbed to 53%, up from 46% last year.

13 service areas achieved more than 85% satisfaction.

Education programmes and cemetery administration services (100% satisfaction)

Botanic Gardens and Mona Vale (99% satisfaction)

Libraries (96% satisfaction)

Council events support (95% satisfaction)

Recreation and sport facilities (91% satisfaction)

Customer services (86% satisfaction)

Water supply reliability and kerbside collection (84% satisfaction)

The survey results can be viewed at

ccc.govt.nz/residents-survey