Locals feel safe but paths vex | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Carterton residents are less satisfied with their footpaths than they were three years ago, but most agree the town is a safe place to live.

A survey done for the Carterton District Council in December last year asked 200 residents to rate council performance and services.

Footpaths are the top complaint - 32 per cent said they were not very satisfied with the district's footpaths, up one percentage point since 2008. The national average, research company Communitrak says, is 21 per cent.

Carterton Deputy Mayor Elaine Brazendale said footpaths were an ongoing issue for the town.

"There's a greater number of people in our community using the footpaths, and we encourage foot traffic," she said. "What's important is that we know what they're dissatisfied with so we can endeavour to make improvements."

Carterton Mayor Ron Mark said he would like more people to take part in planning and consultation, particularly with the council's Long Term Plan coming up.

"I would hope all of those people who have questions or aspirations take time out of their busy lives and come to the meetings - if they can't do that, they can't jolly well complain."

Mr Mark said though the council needed to do more to communicate its activities, it may also need to spend more money.

"We've been exceedingly frugal over the last few years, so maybe we need to accept a need to take on a bit of debt and get some of those things fixed."

Ninety-three per cent of residents say Carterton is definitely or mostly a safe place to live. Ms Brazendale said a lot of work had been done to ensure it was safe, including having adequate street lighting and cutting back tree canopies in parks.

Most residents - 87 per cent - can name one of more councillors, though that figure is down from 92 per cent in 2008.

Just over half of those surveyed said they thought councillors welcomed questions or comments, and 42 per cent felt they were open-minded and fair. Thirteen per cent felt councillors would be reluctant to approaches from the public, up from 4 per cent in 2008.

Ms Brazendale said the councillors might not be as well known as in the past, but she still had approaches from the public: "Absolutely, you can't be seen in the supermarket without being recognised, and people will speak to me wherever I go."

Dissatisfaction with the transfer station was 31 per cent, up from 22 per cent in 2008; and 22 per cent were dissatisfied with public toilets, up from 14 per cent in 2008. Dissatisfaction with stormwater and control of dogs is also up.

Councillors' and mayor's scorecard62 per cent rate mayor, councillors fairly good

51 per cent think councillors welcome questions and feedback

42 per cent feel councillors and mayor are open-minded and fair

17 per cent feel councillors and mayor are defensive and one-sided

Council service scorecard

47 per cent very satisfied with overall service

32 per cent not very satisfied with footpaths

31 per cent not very satisfied with transfer station

30 per cent mentioned Carterton Events Centre positively

22 per cent not very satisfied with public toiletsRon MarkElaine Brazendale