The survey results help identify what is important to the community, what Council is doing well, where Council needs to place more focus, and areas for improvement.
Council also conducts a 'check-in' with residents in alternate years to see if levels of satisfaction are changing. A recent check in has indicated that satisfaction with Council's performance remains strong when compared with previous years.
In February 2022, more than 400 local residents were randomly contacted by Councils independent research partner, with 89% of residents stating they were at least ‘somewhat satisfied’ with Councils performance over the previous 12 months.
A sample of these respondents were re-contacted in February 2023 to see if there had been any increase or decrease in satisfaction. Of these residents, 87% said that their overall satisfaction had increased or remained the same, showing a stengthening of overall satisfaction with Council.
Residents were also asked what they believe should be the key priority for AlburyCity over the next 12 months. The top five key priorities identified by the community were:
- Condition/maintenance of roads and supporting infrastructure - 33%
- Infrastructure/services/facilities to cater for the future - 20%
- Maintaining the natural and built environment/cleanliness of the area - 18%
- Improve Council management e.g., Staffing, planning, communication, and financial management - 12%
- Creating a vibrant community/community events - 8%
AlburyCity CEO Frank Zaknich said it was pleasing to see satisfaction with Council had remained strong, and in fact increased in the past year.
"This result reinforces our focus on continuing a high level of communication with our community, and providing a variety of opportunities to give feedback on the projects and initiatives that matter most," said Mr Zaknich.
"Our community's feedback also means we will continue to place a high priority on informing our community about maintenance and improvements in their local area, how we are improving our riverside parks, our city's apperance, local roads and sewer services, as well as long-term planning initiatives for our city."
"We look forward to hearing from residents again in early 2024 for our next biannual survey, as we continue our focus on meeting our growing community's needs and delivering services to the standard they expect," added Mr Zaknich.
The 2023 Community Satisfaction 'Check-in' Survey results can be found on the AlburyCity website.