Community satisfaction up in almost all areas

Community satisfaction with Corangamite Shire Council's overall performance is at a 10-year high.

The 2020-2021 Community Satisfaction Survey found Council's performance was up across all core measures except customer service which equalled its usual high level.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason said Corangamite had performed at a consistently high level for many years.

"Our overall performance score of 71 compares very favourably to the Statewide average of 61 and Large Rural Shires average of 58."Customer service is one of our best performing core measure and something we are proud of," Mr Mason said.

"We perform significantly higher than other similar councils in community decisions, consultation and engagement and informing the community. Elderly support services were again rated highly, which reflects our community's continuing appreciation of the service.

"An increase in satisfaction with roadside slashing and weed control was particularly significant because it has been a priority area for us, based on feedback from previous surveys.

"Roads continued to be our lowest performing area but they were better than the previous year with sealed local roads up by nine points and unsealed roads up by six."

Value for money is a new core measure. Corangamite's rating of 63 was significantly higher than Large Rural Shires (50) and the State (54) averages.

Mr Mason said feedback on Council's response to the coronavirus pandemic was particularly gratifying. "Emergency Management and our COVID-19 response scored very highly at 79 and 78 respectively. Business and community development also increased significantly. These results reflect the enormous effort staff have put into helping our communities during challenging times."

Mayor Ruth Gstrein Council thanked the residents who shared their opinions.

"Each year this survey helps lets us know what residents think we are doing well and where we need to work harder," Cr Gstrein said.

"It gives us hard data that we can carry through into operational and policy decisions and budget allocations.

The survey phoned 400 residents across demographic groups and asked for their opinions on topics including.

• ·overall performance, benchmarked against State-wide and council group results
• ·value for money in services and infrastructure
• community consultation and engagement
• decisions made in the interest of the community
• customer service, local infrastructure, facilities, services and overall direction.

A full report of the 2020 Community Satisfaction Survey is available at www.corangamite.vic.gov.au/CSS