New Survey Finds Majority of Maitland Locals are Satisfied with Council

Ninety-six per cent of Maitland residents have rated their quality of life as good to excellent, according to the latest community satisfaction survey undertaken by Maitland City Council.

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The survey also found that more than 90 per cent of Maitland residents are at least somewhat satisfied with Council’s performance over the last 12 months.

A sample of 600 residents were surveyed by Micromex over the phone in May this year, followed by three focus group sessions in July.

When quizzed on which aspects of living in Maitland they most loved, residents most commonly cited Maitland’s convenient location, rural aspect and the variety and quality of services, facilities and infrastructure.

Maitland City Council undertakes its community satisfaction survey every two years. However, this was the first survey conducted since 2018 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey results are comparable to that of four years ago, with eleven services and facilities receiving a higher satisfaction rating than in 2018, including festivals and major events, ranger services, and waste and recycling.

Maitland City Council Strategic Engagement Officer Carolyn Fisher says the survey provides Council with an effective and helpful 'pulse check on what our community thinks and feels.

'While the overall results are positive, we acknowledge that there are areas which need improvement, and we will be working to address these,' Ms Fisher said.

'Our respondents told us that areas most in need of improvement were the maintenance of local roads, traffic management, and honesty and transparency.’

The community issue of most concern among respondents was household expenses and afford ability, followed by antisocial behaviour and community safety, and maintenance of local infrastructure.

The survey results show that Maitland City Council can boast significantly higher satisfaction than other regional Councils in 15 key benchmark areas, such as access to public transport, honesty and transparency, flood planning and emergency response, and encouragement of local jobs.

More than seven in 10 (71 per cent) of respondents told Council they were at least somewhat supportive of more diverse housing options across the Maitland local government area. While 83 per cent believe additional homes benefit the area through a greater sense of community and increased services.