Community satisfaction towards Noosa Council services are improving, with three-quarters of residents’ surveyed rating Council’s overall performance as good or very good.
In its latest Community Satisfaction Survey, Council’s overall weighted Performance Index was 74.59 per cent, up slightly from the 2017 results of 73.20.
The Community Satisfaction Survey is carried out every two years. It helps benchmark Noosa’s progress over time and also allows comparisons with other local governments across the state. The survey, performed by Market Facts, asked 400 Noosa residents to provide a rating on the importance and performance of 41 responsibility areas.
The final report was tabled at today’s Services and Organisation Committee meeting.
Mayor Tony Wellington said the results are important to help shape council’s service delivery to residents.
“The participants remain anonymous, and they are free to answer the questions however they wish, so the outcome is a really useful and an impartial indicator of our performance.”
“As the level of government closest to the people, it’s vitally important to regularly check whether we are meeting the needs of our residents. This survey helps us determine where we can focus on improvements,” he said.
The council services with the highest ratings were – Libraries (84.9%), Waste management (81.5%), and Customer Service (81%). Other high performers were Development of Tourism, Community Safety plus the Quality & Performance of Staff.
Areas with the lowest ratings – although the overall satisfaction ratings were still very high – included Parking Facilities (59.6%), Economic Development (66.6%) and Traffic Management (68%).
Consulting with the Community came in with a 72.2% satisfaction rating.
Cr Wellington said, “This is an area that council needs to focus on, although we did manage a ten percent improvement on our 2017 results. But, of course, we can always do better with our consultation processes.”
Acting CEO Michael Shave said council had a strong focus on working with the community and particularly pleasing was the high rating given in the performance of staff category.
“Three quarters of those surveyed who had contacted Council rated the service of staff as good or very good,” he said.
Those surveyed also felt a strong connection to the Noosa community, with 76% indicating they were either satisfied or completely satisfied in regard to feeling part of their community.
“That’s a really core result in terms of gauging community wellbeing,” Mayor Wellington said.
“Vast amounts of research here and abroad has demonstrated that connection with one’s community is a critical element in our satisfaction with life. We are so lucky to have such a highly engaged and active community here in Noosa, with 300 community organisations to choose from.”
Noosa Council continues to meet or rate higher than the state-average and ranks above similar sized provincial councils on many core services. The 2019 results from other local governments across Queensland will be available later in the year.
