Council report card dips but still above average

Published on 26 June 2024

Customer service is Corangamite Shire Council’s highest performing core measure for the sixth year in a row.

The 2024 Community Satisfaction Survey found Council continued to outperform the Large Rural Shires and State-wide averages.

Council’s overall performance score of 64 was down from 66 last year but above the Statewide average of 54 and Large Rural Shires average of 50.

The survey shows Corangamite was above average in most core and individual performance areas.

While there have been declines across the sector, Corangamite fared better than most.

“While there are some areas in need of improvement, these results should be well-received,” Chief Executive Officer David Rae said.

“The survey is undertaken by the Department of Government Services every year on behalf of all Victorian councils.

“It gauges the community’s satisfaction with Council across a range of performance measures and identifies our best performing areas, and those that need improvement.

“The results will be used to assess how well the organisation is delivering the Council Plan.”

Customer service was Council’s highest performing core measure at 76 points (9 above the State total and 11 above the large rural shires total).

Sealed road maintenance continued to be the top attribute identified as an area for improvement, with a decrease on last year’s result (37%, down from 42%).

“Roads remain an area of improvement for many in our community,” Mr Rae said.

“Generally, this is associated with the state’s arterial road network. While Council continues to advocate for improvements in the network, there is the opportunity to better inform the community which roads are Council’s responsibility and which are State roads.”

Other significant results were in Consultation and Engagement and Community Decisions (both 12 points higher than the state-total), Planning and Building Permits (11 points higher), and Overall Performance, Emergency and Disaster Management, Lobbying and Town Planning Policy (all 10 points higher).

“In contrast to declines across the sector, Corangamite has seen improvements in 12 measures and five were unchanged from 2023,” Mr Rae said.

The five measures which rose were:

• Community consultation and engagement
• Lobbying on behalf of the community
• Decisions made in the interest of the community
• Enforcement of local laws
• Maintenance of unsealed roads in your area

“We also continue to perform well relative to our peers in almost all individual service areas, with most measures remaining well above the large rural shires and Statewide averages.”

There were particularly strong results in:

Decisions made in the interest of the community (12 points higher than State-wide average and 16 higher than Large Rural Shires average)

Planning and Building Permits (11 points higher than State-wide average and 15 points higher than Large Rural Shires average)

Community consultation and engagement (12 points higher than State-wide average and 15 points higher than Large Rural Shires average)

Lobbying on behalf of the community (10 points higher than State-wide average and 13 points higher than Large Rural Shires average); and

General town planning policy (10 points higher than State-wide average and 12 points higher than Large Rural Shires average).

For more details and analysis, click here.