South Wairarapa District Council has been named a top player when it comes to customer service in local government, according to a national survey. 

The Council placed fourth for ‘Customer Experience’ among all New Zealand councils, and third of the 54 district councils. 

The 2025 Customer Experience Benchmarking Survey was undertaken by ALGIM (Association of Local Government Information Management), in which they ‘mystery shopped’ all 78 New Zealand councils and 3 council-controlled organisations. 

The survey looked at the information and accessibility of respective councils’ websites, as well as phone and email interactions with customer service representatives.  

Chief Executive Janice Smith said, “this validates what we already know about our staff – that they have our communities at heart.” 

She said improving the experience of dealing with our Council for our district’s residents had been a priority for her since she stepped into the role in 2023.  

“To be ranked in the top 10 councils nationally is a wonderful achievement and to say I am incredibly proud of my team would be an understatement. 

“In all categories we exceed the national average both in Aotearoa and Australia – and what’s more, is we were first of all councils in the Wellington region.” 

A report produced by ALGIM said: “South Wairarapa District Council’s overall result reflects exceptionally strong customer experience performance, with outcomes placing the Council firmly among the leading performers nationally.” 

It noted how the 2025 result was “a substantial uplift on previous years and demonstrates consistently excellent service delivery across all channels”. 

Mrs Smith said the Customer Experience Award received because of the survey was testament to the Council’s culture of ‘always improving’ and there were other exciting initiatives being introduced to further improve the community’s dealing with the Council.  

The results for our district were based on seven interactions over a two-week period. 

Areas of focus were first impressions, communicating and listening, ability to solve problems, knowledge, and overall experience. Assessment was weighted to 20% email, 60% telephone, and 20% online portal (website).  

The ALGIM report said the council’s performance across these measures was “consistently very strong, reflecting mature service delivery practices and a high-performing customer experience culture”. 

It said the Council was “well above the national average”, noting phone performance was “exceptionally strong”, representing “a clear organisational strength and a benchmark for other councils”.