Nine-in-ten Mid Cantabrians think living in the Ashburton District is about the same or better compared to three years ago, the latest results from the Council's Annual Residents' Survey show.

Independent company, Key Research presented the 2019/20 Annual Residents' Survey to Councillors at their meeting yesterday, and the results are now available online​.

The survey showed that the Council met or exceeded 15 of its 18 performance measures outlined in the Long Term Plan (LTP), including animal control, the EA Networks Centre, parks and open spaces, Civil Defence and quality of Council information.

The district's drinking water infrastructure and rubbish and recycling services remained strong this year, with more than 80 per cent of residents satisfied with these services.

More than 90 per cent of residents were also satisfied with public services such as opportunities for grants and funding, community events and social services, while the public library service and Ashburton Museum both received the tick of approval from 97 per cent and 86 per cent of residents, respectively.

Although overall satisfaction with the Council was down on the previous year (69 per cent compared to 77 per cent), perceptions of elected member and council staff performance both improved over the last 12 months.

Satisfaction with the Mayor and Councillors increased to 78 percent while satisfaction with Council staff grew to 87 per cent.

Council Chief Executive Hamish Riach says the Annual Residents' Survey is a useful tool for gauging the Council's performance in the community's eyes.

"We work hard to meet or exceed residents' expectations every day, so it is pleasing to see these efforts reflected in many areas in this year's results. The survey is a robust way of identifying what our community thinks we are doing well and also what we could perhaps focus more on, and we will use the results to help evaluate our services and activities."

Along with the Mayor and Councillors, satisfaction with sealed and unsealed roads did not meet LTP targets, and Mr Riach adds that roading has been a major priority for the Council.

"We were disappointed to see satisfaction with roads decrease on the previous year, especially given the additional $3 million we have budgeted for our network over the last three years to maintain levels of service.

"Mid Canterbury has the third largest rural roading network in the country and these roads are hugely important to our community. Our efforts will continue to focus on this vital infrastructure for our residents right across the district."

The 2019/20 Annual Residents' Survey was conducted on a representative cross-section of the community and was carried out in four stages throughout the year, both online and in hard copy.​