The fallout from Covid-19 has been put in black and white for the Queenstown Lakes District Council again, through the release of the council’s quality of life survey.
The fourth annual survey, conducted in October, focused on how 1000 residents felt about things such as employment, housing, health services, the environment, growth and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, though all paths seemed to lead to the last of those, regardless of the topic.
Council chief executive Mike Theelen said the report highlighted the ongoing stress and strain caused by Covid.
Particularly concerning were results relating to mental health.
A total of 20% of respondents rated their mental wellbeing as poor or very poor, while general resilience levels were also down.
In terms of employment, respondents appeared more optimistic about their ability to secure work in the district — across most measures relating to upskilling and finding work, overall agreement had increased compared with 2020.
The exception was a 9% decrease, to 21%, of respondents willing to work in a range of seasonal jobs to secure local employment.
Satisfaction with the council was lower, down from 34% to 25%, and elected members, from 33% to 19%.
"We will work together to understand and address the reasons for this," Mr Theelen said.
While tourism continued to be the dominant industry in the district, at 21%, there was a 6% decrease on 2020, and construction respondents dropped from 15% to 8%.
The report also highlighted a worrying trend relating to respondents’ ability to heat their homes sufficiently.
Last year 78% of respondents said they could heat their homes, an 8% drop on 2020, and 71% of those who said they could not cited affordability and poor window glazing as the primary reasons.
One respondent said their power bill over last winter for two adults and a baby had averaged $550, which they described as "pretty tough" on one income.
"When we had six adults living in the same property five years ago, it was more like $450."
The report noted the "most alarming part" of that example was that affordability had been "by far" the main barrier to home heating for four years.
"Yet, as exemplified here, price increases only exacerbate and worsen this barrier.
"Furthermore, there is a disproportionate burden on ethnic minorities who battle with the inability to heat their home."
