Cheltenham Borough Council has released the results of its latest resident survey. The survey – carried out this autumn by independent market research agency Enventure was conducted by telephone, face to face and online across all Cheltenham wards.
The survey received 1,346 responses, which means accuracy of +/-2.9% at 95% confidence.
It was designed to reveal local residents’ perceptions of living in Cheltenham, their view of local issues and their level of satisfaction with the council to help inform the new council plan assisting with measuring progress and future decision making. The full results and analysis can be found at www.cheltenham.gov.uk/resident-survey-2022.
The results shows that overall, 90% of Cheltenham residents are satisfied with their local area as a place to live. This is a 6% increase when compared to the 2019 results and 9% higher than the Local Government Association (LGA) national polling at 81%; and 89% of residents would recommend Cheltenham as a place to live and 80% of residents felt Cheltenham has a positive future.
Cllr Rowena Hay, leader of the council, said: “Thank you to everyone who took part in our independently-conducted survey. I’m especially pleased to see the increase in people’s satisfaction with being a Cheltenham resident and that the majority feel the town has a positive future. Sharing valuable insights and viewpoints with us, helps inform our priorities when making plans, decisions and how we should monitor performance.
‘’The council are proud custodians of Cheltenham and we aim to improve satisfaction levels ensuring residents, communities and businesses benefit from Cheltenham’s future growth and prosperity, build on our successes and investments like the Golden Valley Development, our £180m housing investment plan and ensure a legacy of sustainability for future generations.’’
Further results show that 88% of residents are satisfied with Cheltenham’s award winning parks and open spaces; 83% of residents are satisfied with household waste collections and 81% are satisfied with household recycling collections, with 72% of residents satisfied with the cleanliness of the streets in their local area.
Other positive results include:
- 78% of residents felt Cheltenham has a vibrant culture and is an exciting place to live.
- 80% of residents felt Cheltenham has a positive future.
- Of the local people who were aware of the Golden Valley Development, 75% of residents felt it will be positive for the local economy.
The council is directly addressing a number of common themes raised in the survey, for example:
- 76% of residents felt there was a need for more affordable homes to buy and rent. The authority has allocated up to £180m funding for Cheltenham Borough Homes to increase its supply of affordable housing.
- Satisfaction with safety during the day is 87% but this drops to 44% after dark. The council continues to work closely with Cheltenham’s Night Time Economy businesses and has again been awarded a Purple Flag for the sixth consecutive year for its appealing, safe and welcoming evening and night time offer.
- Only 44% of residents felt they have the opportunity to grow their career in Cheltenham. There is room for improvement around opportunities for young people and growing careers.
- Whilst 61% of residents were satisfied with the range of shops available, 88% were satisfied with the range of events in Cheltenham.
Residents were also asked to state one thing they feel the council should do to improve Cheltenham:
- Better roads/path maintenance (28%) (This is the responsibility of Gloucestershire County Council and not Cheltenham Borough Council)
- Regeneration of the High Street, with 18% suggesting High Street regeneration/encouraging businesses.
The results and insights will be shared with other organisations the council works closely with such as Gloucestershire County Council (the highways authority), Cheltenham BID, GFirstLep, UBICO, Chamber of Commerce, Parish Councils, Cheltenham Police, Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner and others.
These results will be fed into the development of the council’s new priorities for Cheltenham that will be presented to full council in February 2023.