Community satisfaction with Corangamite Shire Council’s overall performance is significantly higher than Large Rural Shires and State-wide averages.
Results of the annual Community Satisfaction Survey show customer service is again Council’s highest performing core measure at 78 points, up two from the previous year.
Corangamite improved in four measures despite the general negative trend across the state:
- Roadside slashing and weed control
- COVID-19 response
- The condition of local streets and footpaths
- Enforcement of local laws
Other significant results were in Community Decisions, Consultation and Engagement, and Overall Performance.
Sealed local roads maintained the sharp increase from last year and are 12 points higher than in 2018.
Corangamite outperforms other Large Rural Shires on all core measures and beats state-wide results on all measures except sealed local roads and waste management.
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason said while there were some areas of improvement, the results should be well-received.
“Corangamite’s results dipped slightly from what were remarkable highs of the previous survey. The small drop which reflects a broader trend across all local governments,” Mr Mason said.
“Our 2021 results were the highest for 10 years which can be attributed to employment of additional staff and a strong and proactive approach to COVID-19.
“These latest results still show strong performance compared to our longer term record.
“We will use the results for individual service areas to assess our performance against the Council Plan to help shape operational and policy decisions.”
Mayor Ruth Gstrein said the annual survey was a valuable tool that let Council know where it was going well and where there was room to improve.
“We’re listening to our 400 residents who participated in this the survey,” she said.
“Customer service continues to be our highest performance area which demonstrates that the whole organisation is focussed on building strong relationship with the wider community.
“It’s not just the Customer Service from our wonderful customer services team at the front desk. It’s ever single staff member who interacts with the public and the reaction they get and the conversations they have.”
Cr Gstrein said sealed local roads continued to be a significant challenge.
“I don’t think we should be too hard on ourselves when we look at the sealed local roads because we did have a huge jump up nine points to last year and we’ve only dropped back one.
“It certainly sharpens out focus and reiterates the amount were spending in our budgets is streamlined at going to sealed local roads.”
The survey is undertaken by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions on behalf of all Victorian councils.
A total of 400 interviews were completed during the period 27 January to 41 March 2022. Minimum quotas of gender within age groups were applied during the fieldwork phase. Post survey weighting was then conducted to ensure accurate representation of the age and gender profile of the Corangamite Shire Council area.
