More Queenstown Lakes residents own their own home, are employed full-time or earn a higher income than a year ago, according to a recent survey.

Each year Queenstown Lakes District Council conducts a Quality of Life survey to measure the wellbeing of residents in the district across topics from health and the environment to transport and employment.

According to the survey, full-time employment increased to 51 percent from 43 percent last year, another three percent of residents became homeowners to reach 63 percent, and unemployment dropped by four percent to just two percent.

More people were also concerned about climate change and taking steps to reduce their household emissions; and residents were more likely to feel good at work, with more residents reporting positive feelings of security at work and more people believing their wellbeing was important to their employer.

However, not all survey results trended positively: twenty percent of the district rated their mental wellbeing as poor or very poor, and community resilience also continued to trend downwards.

QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen said the latest report highlighted the ongoing stresses and strains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and he said the mental wellbeing figures were “particularly concerning”.

“Findings like this highlight the importance of different organisations working together and I’m particularly encouraged by some of the latest work in this space,” Mike said. “For example, the broad coalition of agencies including council and SDHB [Southern District Health Board] involved in [wellbeing service] Te Hau Toka.

“I encourage anyone feeling challenged by current circumstances to make contact and access these valuable services.”

Satisfaction with council also dropped significantly in the past year, with 25 percent feeling satisfied, a drop of nine percent; and satisfaction with elected members dropped even further, down to 19 percent from 33 percent.

Mike said council and elected members will work together to “understand and address the reasons for this”.

The December 2021 Quality of Life survey, which was administered on behalf of QLDC by Versus Research, has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

See the full report here.

PHOTO: Wānaka App