Every three years Banbridge District Council conducts a door-to-door survey among 400 households in the district in order to gauge residents’ satisfaction with its services and facilities.

Findings from the most recent survey conducted in April this year show that satisfaction with the council’s overall performance has reached an all time high, with a majority of services and facilities achieving a higher level of satisfaction than the results of the previous survey in 2009.

Overall, the results of the most recent survey indicate that people in the district have seen many improvements during the past three years. In 2012, an impressive 90% of residents said they are satisfied with the provision of services and facilities compared to 88% in 2009.

The satisfaction level with keeping residents informed about what it is doing is up 5% from 2009 and now sits at 82%. Consulting and listening to residents (71%) is up by 9% and having a positive image of the council (79%) is up by 13%. Over three-quarters (77%) feel the council does a good job in representing residents’ interests.

Positive improvements were recorded for many key services too. Satisfaction with bin collections (88%) and street cleaning (76%) show a slight improvement from 2009 whereas the provision of indoor leisure (66%) showed an improvement of 7% and the maintenance of parks and open spaces showed an improvement of 4%.

Satisfaction with indoor leisure provision has increased to 66%, showing a 7% improvement. Over three-quarters of residents are satisfied with the provision (79%) and upkeep (78%) of recycling points. Some 81% rated the council’s progress with town and rural development from excellent to fair.

Improvements of 10% were also recorded for the control of stray dogs (79%) and barking dogs (80%). Some 70% are satisfied with the council deals with dog licensing. In contrast, residents expressed a higher level of dissatisfaction with dog fouling. However, the council is keen to address this issue and has already increased the penalty for such an offence to £80. Over the coming months, the council will step up its campaign to raise awareness and educate dog owners about this serious environmental issue.

Whilst three-quarters of residents are satisfied with the provision (75%) of parks and open spaces, less than two-thirds are satisfied with the provision (61%) and maintenance (62%) of play parks. However, the council is working to improve this and has given a commitment to invest around £1.7 million over the next few years on improving play provision in the district.

Council facilities to achieve 100% satisfaction included Rathfriland Community Centre, Scarva Visitors Centre, Bronte Interpretive Centre, Newry Canal Towpath and Banbridge Old Town Hall.

Other council facilities to show equally impressive improvements in satisfaction levels are Banbridge Leisure Centre (93%), Dromore Community Centre (94%), Banbridge Recycling Centre (99%), Dromore Recycling Centre (99%), Rathfriland Recycling Centre (98%), F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Studio (96%), Havelock Park Playing Fields (98%), Cheney Park Playing Fields (97%) and Dromore Town Hall (97%).

Most people (94%) surveyed enjoy living in the district and would be happy to recommend it as a place to live. Almost three out of four (73%) residents rated good relations between people of different backgrounds in the district as excellent or good.

After reviewing the findings, Council Chairman Joan Baird, commented, “Congratulations to all staff for helping us achieve a high level of customer satisfaction among residents. These findings highlight the good work that our staff do everyday to ensure our services and facilities exceed the expectations of our customers. We will utilise these findings to promote further continuous service improvement across all departments. Thanks also to the 400 residents across the three electoral areas who participated in the survey.”

The council is keen to further improve customer satisfaction with all services and facilities. To provide feedback, complete a ‘Your Comments Count’ form which can be found at reception in most council buildings. Alternatively, like Banbridge District Council on Facebook and post your suggestion online at www.facebook.com/banbridgecouncil

The research was carried out independently by Social Market Research. A full copy of the 2012 Residents Satisfaction Survey can be viewed or downloaded at here.