The fourth annual survey, conducted in October, focused on how 1000 residents felt about things like employment, housing, health services, the environment, growth, and the effects of Covid-19, though all paths seemed to lead to the latter, regardless of the topic.
Council chief executive Mike Theelen said the report highlighted the ongoing stress and strain caused by Covid-19.
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 increased when compared to 2020.
The exception, however, was a 9% decrease, to 21%, of respondents willing to work in a range of seasonal jobs to secure local employment.
While tourism continued to be the dominant industry in the district, at 21% there was 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, with 71% of those who said they could not citing affordability and poor window glazing as the primary reasons.
One respondent said their power bill over last winter for two adults and a baby averaged $550, 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 exacerbates and worsens this barrier.
‘‘Furthermore, there is a disproportionate burden on ethnic minorities who battle with the inability to heat their home.’’
Council chief executive Mike Theelen noted satisfaction was lower with the council, down from 34% to 25%, and elected members, from 33% to 19%.
‘‘We will work together to understand and address the reasons for this,’’ he said.
