Kawerau District Council is inviting residents to take part in its triennial residents’ survey.

Every three years since the 1990s, the council has asked residents to rate all council services from kerbside recycling and greenwaste collection through to rates, facilities, parks and reserves, community safety, and more.

The results are compared to previous surveys and to other councils’ results across New Zealand.

Feedback lets the council know if it is on the right track and shows how it stacks up against other territorial authorities around the country.

“With these insights, the council can invest in services and facilities that the community identifies as valuable,” said chief executive Morgan Godfery.

“The aim is to improve residents’ satisfaction with the council’s overall performance.”

The results also enable the council to measure its performance against targets set in its Long-Term Plan.

SIL Research from Hawke’s Bay is conducting the 2026 survey, having completed Kawerau’s last triennial residents survey in 2023.

In 2023, the council received an overall satisfaction rating of 70 percent from residents, well above the New Zealand benchmark for councils of 50 percent.

Data will be collected using a mixed-methods approach to maximise participation and ensure broad community representation, including:

n Postal surveys

n Social media and links on the Council’s website

n Phone calls

n Surveys delivered to some schools, community agencies, and organisations

The survey asks participants a variety of questions about the services council delivers to residents with a 10-point rating scale and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

The residents’ feedback can lead to practical improvements such as removing hazardous trees, improving footpaths, and building public toilets closer to the town centre in response to community concerns.

These examples show how residents’ input makes a real difference to services in Kawerau.

The survey is anonymous; no one will be personally identified in any feedback or results presented.

Data will only be used to provide council information and statistics about their services and facilities.

To ensure a broad cross-section of community responses, people from both the Kawerau Māori ward and Kawerau general ward will be surveyed using a randomised selection method.

Any members of the community and ratepayers can give feedback as the surveys are available online hard copies are available at the council offices, library and isite.

The results will be shared with the Kawerau community and are outlined in the annual report.

To fill out the survey go to www.silresearch.co.nz/kawerau