As a result of NRB's extensive experience in Council research, and in response to demand, NRB developed the Communitrak™ service, principally for measuring residents' satisfaction with services provided by District and City Councils.

Communitrak™ is a community survey of residents, covering topics relevant to local authorities, which provides results that may be used as a management tool or for measurement of performance targets set in Annual Plans.

The Communitrak™ service is specifically designed to be an effective way for Councils to consult with their residents and ratepayers, while offering meaningful benchmarks against which to compare their City or District Council, relative to all Councils nationally and to peer group local authorities

NRB undertakes, every second year, a nationwide survey of residents, with a spread of respondents covering all Cities and Districts in New Zealand. We use this data to provide for our clients, the Peer Group and National average figures.

Topics covered in the full Communitrak™ survey include:

Satisfaction with services and facilities and reasons for dissatisfaction
Provision and usage of services and facilities
Spend emphasis and priority for services / facilities
Rates issues
Performance of the Mayor and Councillors, and council staff
Representation and democratic process
Council policy and direction (approval / disapproval of recent Council actions, decisions and management)
Contact with the Council
Council information
Local issues

Despite a degree of necessary standardisation, the Communitrak™ survey is a flexible survey method. While some questions are in common to enable comparisons, the service provides for the specific needs of individual Councils. We actively encourage the development of custom designed questions in consultation with Council management.

Implementation of Communitrak™ by a specific Council is most effective if there is:

Participation by that Council in the design of the survey to ensure results are measured against determined performance criteria.
Use of comparative measures to ensure objective judgements can be made in one year and continuity in successive years.

For further information contact Ken Sutton or
phone: (09) 6300 655