The survey, carried out by Innovative Business Solutions from the Southern Institute of Technology, quizzed 399 residents about key areas of the council's services and facilities. Respondents were asked to rate their responses on a level of one to five with one being very dissatisfied and five being very satisfied.
The average level of satisfaction, across the entire survey, was 3.38.
Council chief executive Steve Parry said this was a pass mark in a survey he said showed the council was on the right track in its emphasis on the likes of parks and reserves and arts and heritage as key elements to enhance the quality of life of residents.
"It's great to see that there is such a high overall level of pride in our district and to see that some of the work the council does is so clearly a part of that pride."
Mr Parry said it had already set its sights firmly on some of the lowest-scoring services, with a new toilet block project and $130,000 in footpath renewals planned.
When it came to ranking the council's services and facilities, the Gore Museum and Art Gallery polled highest with ratings of 4.75 and 4.62 respectively while public toilets (2.95) and the Mataura Pool (3.91) were lowest.
Of those polled, 92% agreed the Gore district was a great place to live while even more agreed it boasted good sporting facilities and opportunities.
Mr Parry said the results would help the council review its long-term council community plan.
A summary of the survey included. -
• Water: 95% of respondents were satisfied with the sewerage service while the figure for water was 87%. In terms of the reliability of council's water supply, this polled an average of 4.31 while the average rating for the quality of the supply was 3.74.
• Roading: Locals rate the district's sealed roads the highest with an average rating of 3.96 while gravel roads polled an average of 3.13. The lowest rating went to footpaths with a rating of 3.09.
• Waste: The wheelie bin service is popular, with an average rating of 4.64, while the town's refuse transfer station received a 3.77 rating.
The majority (92%) knew of kerbside recycling while just over half (55%) said they would use that service if it was available. Just over half (52%) of those who said they would use a kerbside recycling service would not be prepared to pay an extra $200 a year in their rates.
• Council services: Apart from the rankings for the gallery and museum, respondents gave high rankings to cemeteries (4.59), information centres (4.58), parks-reserves (4.54), aquatic centre (4.43), sports grounds (4.30) community centre-hall (4.21) and playgrounds, which polled an average of 4.16.
• Communication: More than half of respondents (59%) had visited the council's office while 37% had phoned the office.
Those residents were more than satisfied with the level of service they received. Almost two-thirds (64%) used the public notices in a community newspaper as their main source of getting information about the council while newspaper articles (57%) were also a popular method. Just 11% had visited the council's website.
