Annual residents’ survey shows divide in approval ratings for Arun District Council

Approval and satisfaction with Arun District Council and its services was lower overall in the West of the district than in the East, with trust in the council more than 20 per cent lower, according to the council’s annual residents’ survey conducted by BMG Research Ltd.

It also found the Downlands area of the district had the lowest approval and satisfaction figures of the three survey areas – comprising the wards of Angemering and Findon, Arundel and Walberton, Yapton, and Barnham.

The district’s West and Downlands areas also had low trust the council was ‘acting on concerns’ of residents, with 31 and 25 per cent respectively – compared to 54 per cent in the East.

The gap between East and West in ‘satisfaction with cleanliness’ was an average of 16 per cent, across seven areas in the district.

These areas were public toilets, parks and open spaces, residential roads, town/village shopping areas, beaches and promenades, car parks and out-of-town shopping areas.

Satisfaction with cleanliness across the district went down in six of seven areas from the 2022 survey, with public toilets going up to 44 per cent – the highest it has been in ten years.

Satisfaction with Arun district overall as a ‘place to live’ dropped to its lowest point in five years at 77 per cent, previously 80 per cent in 2022.

The report noted that satisfaction with services was ‘high’ compared to the national average, especially in waste collection services, where Arun had 90 per cent satisfaction compared to the national average of 78 per cent.

These figures were presented to the council’s policy and finance committee at its meeting on Thursday, October 26. Council officers noted services were the same across the district, so said this was likely an issue of perception or communication, and not delivery of those services.

Officers said: “We’re looking at general dissatisfaction with politics at all levels, we’re looking at a difficult economic climate at the moment, we’re looking at different things happening in different parts of the district.”

Officers also said it was very difficult to ‘pinpoint’ any one reason or list of reasons people were dissatisfied with the council, and that perceptions were ‘complicated’.

Shaun Gunner (Con, Rustington East) said a ‘negative perception’ of the district was partly due to councillors from the West ‘slagging off’ the council, contrary to the council policy of members to highlight the good the council does.

Leader of the council Matt Stanley (LDem, Marine) said the way councillors had conducted themselves in the past had ‘impacted’ the data in the survey, adding members were focusing on conducting themselves in the ‘right way’.