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Wellington receives community satisfaction boostWellington Shire Council is making encouraging improvements in key areas of service delivery according to its latest Community Satisfaction Survey conducted with local residents and ratepayers. By Wellington Shire Council - 30th June 2003 - Back to News Positive comments have been received from the community in particular about: customer service and dealings with staff; libraries; waste management; and, economic development and tourism.
The survey was designed to be more comprehensive than the Department of Infrastructure’s (DOI) own yearly, state-wide Council performance surveys – providing a better understanding of Wellington-specific community needs and expectations. Indeed, while a sample size of 350 local people were interviewed by the DOI over the phone in 2002, over 600 took part in the Council’s own mail-out exercise, conducted during February this year, which also contained many additional questions.
Though direct comparison between the two surveys is difficult, there is nonetheless clear evidence of Wellington improvements. The community’s satisfaction rating for the delivery of key services increased from 57 to 64, with by-laws enforcement (up 25 points to 89), waste management (up ten points to 73) and economic development (11 points higher at 60) featuring particularly strongly. These areas also received the highest proportion of ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ ratings.
The Council’s overall performance rated 54, compared to 51 last year.
Aspects of service singled out for particular attention included:
- advocacy – with calls for greater community consultation and involvement in Council decisions and policy making;
- public toilets - the need to improve their quality and standards of cleanliness;
- roads - with requests for improved and more regular road grading and maintenance;
- roadside assets – most notably concerns about the size and location of some trees on nature strips and roadsides, along with vegetation issues.
Work is already in hand to address these issues.
Said Wellington’s Chief Executive Officer Lyndon Webb: "We appreciate the views of all those who took part in this survey, which has provided us with a much better understanding of local needs and expectations than has been possible in the past from state-wide exercises. This has already proved very useful in helping us decide service priorities for the coming and future financial years.
"While the results are encouraging in many ways and show that the Council is generally moving in the right direction, we are the first to admit that there is still plenty of scope for improvement. We are already making concerted efforts to tackle many of the issues head-on and will be upping the momentum over the coming months and years. Spending on roads and bridges has been increasing annually and the budget for the coming financial year continues this trend. As well as initiatives to serve the Wellington region, such as the Esso BHP Billiton Wellington Entertainment Centre and Port of Sale developments, other exciting projects coming on stream include a new library and hall upgrade for Heyfield, construction of the Rosedale Community Centre, improvements for Yarram Swimming Pool and construction of the Port Albert Wharf/Boardwalk."
"Central to all that we do is ensuring we provide a high standard of customer service. To this end an in-house initiative is already underway, geared at further gelling staff commitment and pride, to ensure they are even better equipped to serve the public well."
A detailed copy of the 2003 community survey results can be obtained from any of the Council’s Customer Service Centres and libraries. The results can also be found on the Council’s website www.wellington.vic.gov.au
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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