Wodonga Council participated in Local Government Victoria's Community Satisfaction Survey for the eighth year in a row, recording a strong performance which built on its 2023 results.
The council saw increases recorded across the majority of core performance measures, outperforming the state-wide and Regional Centres averages in all performance metrics.
Notably, a significant increase of six points in the overall direction index defied a state-wide downward trend.
Customer Service continues to be one of the council's top-performing service areas, alongside art centres and libraries and recreational facilities.
The condition of local roads continues to be an area of improvement for the council, alongside community consultation and engagement, and lobbying and advocacy.
Matthew Hyde, Wodonga Council Chief Executive Officer, noted the improvement on last year's results.
"Last year's results demonstrated the need to focus more on the direction of the council. It's pleasing to see the work the organisation has done here reflected in this year's survey response," he said.
"In the 12 months prior to the 2024 survey period, the council navigated an increasingly complex financial environment and sought to cater to the needs of our growing city in a fiscally prudent manner to ensure sustainability into the future.
"Throughout this period, a customer first approach and a commitment to retaining the service standards the broader community values, remained a priority.
"I am very proud of council staff, who took on the challenge presented by the 2023 results, seeing it as an opportunity to refine their method of operation to meet community expectation in a way that will allow reinvestment back into the community.
"Work on the 2050 Community Vision has also progressed, which provides an opportunity to refine the council's focus into 2050.
"The development of a new council vision is an exciting and wide-ranging project that outlines our aspirations for the future, and I look forward to seeing the goals and priorities it establishes as key to Wodonga's growth and development.
"While I am very proud of the results of this year's survey, there is always work to be done to improve.
"Council staff will continue to work diligently to review the information within this year's Community Satisfaction Survey to determine ways in which they can build upon the results.
"Financial sustainability remains a challenge and the council's focus remains on shoring up the long-term outlook so that we can continue to maintain the infrastructure and services valued by our community."
This polling, organised by Local Government Victoria, was undertaken in January to March this year.
