FEWER residents are dissatisfied with Mid Devon District Council but trust in the same organisation has dropped.

Results from a survey of residents show there has been a drop in the number who are unhappy with how the council runs things compared to the previous year.

Just under 24 per cent of the survey respondents said they were fairly or very dissatisfied with the way Mid Devon District Council runs services, but that was down from 26.6 per cent in 2024 and more than 30 per cent in 2023.

However, when asked how much they trust Mid Devon District Council, the results show a drop in the number stating they trusted it a fair amount or a great deal (44.4 per cent compared to 51.2 per cent in 2024), while the amount stating their level of trust was ‘not very much’ rose to 35.3 per cent from 30.6 per cent in 2024.

But both of those 2025 figures were marginally better on the same question from 2023, when only 40 per cent said they trusted the council a fair amount or a great deal, and 36 per cent said “not very much”.

Councillor Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat, Bradninch), the leader of the council, said the survey helped the council “prioritise how residents’ money is allocated”.

He said it was “reassuring” to see the vast majority of responses remaining consistent with the previous year.

Cllr Taylor added he was pleased with the downward direction of travel in the number of residents stating they were dissatisfied with the council.

“The real positives we have to be taking from that are that people are feeling less angry at the council, and I often feel that people tend to comment on these types of surveys when they are angry at a particular thing about the council,” he said.

“So while some might feel the survey turnout is low, if you look at the comparative data, it is not that low, and respondents are normally people who are frustrated or annoyed at the way things are being done, especially with the current political climate.”

He said he was pleased with the feedback and that the council does “take it onboard and it is not just a tick-box exercise”.

“What would be more concerning would be if we were seeing a significant downward trend [in satisfaction] but that is definitely not evident,” Cllr Taylor added.

A total of 525 residents responded to the survey, up more than a fifth on the 433 from 2024. The population of Mid Devon was 82,800 in the 2021 Census.

In other areas, residents were broadly as satisfied with leisure services (42 per cent vs 43 per cent in 2024), were slightly more satisfied with parks and green spaces (56 per cent compared to 54.4 per cent in 2024) but fewer felt fairly or very safe after dark (62 per cent compared to 66 per cent in 2024).