79% of residents 'unsatisfied' with council – survey

ONLY one in five residents are satisfied with a North East council, according to its own survey.

- DANIEL HOLLAND

Just 21% of people are happy with how Gateshead Council runs its services, the local authority itself has revealed.

A council-run survey of more than 3,000 residents also found that only 18% feel the council provides value for money and responds to their concerns.

Labour council leader Martin Gannon admitted that the results had sent a “clear message” to Civic Centre officials that improvement was needed.

A report on the findings said that unhappy respondents had pinpointed complaints over poor road conditions, the closed Gateshead Highway flyover, antisocial behaviour, and housing repairs. It added that satisfaction with street cleaning is at 30% and road and pavement maintenance at 16% and 19% respectively, though happiness with bin collections remains higher at 70%.

Coun Gannon said: “There's a clear message from this survey - we need to do better. And I've got a clear message for our residents - we hear you.

“We know Gateshead people, so these results didn’t contain any real surprises.