Southern Grampians Shire Council has excelled in the area of Customer Service according to the 2021 Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey, received by Council at last night’s July meeting. The score of 71 for customer service is up four points from the 2020 score and sees Council ranked three points above the large rural shire average and one point higher than the state average.
Council’s overall performance also improved from 53 in 2019 to 57 in 2021, and overall direction was up to 51 from 49 in 2020 to 51.
Southern Grampians Shire Council Mayor, Cr Bruach Colliton said the results validated the effort Council has been putting into customer service over the last 18 months, particularly throughout the COVID period.
“It’s really pleasing to see that the hard work Council has been putting into improving customer service has had a real impact within our community. It’s a testament to our hardworking staff, particularly those who were on the ‘frontline’ throughout a really challenging period,” Cr Colliton said.
“Overall, the results show that Council is moving in the right direction. The past year has presented us all with some challenges and Council has not been immune. We have been forced to find new and innovative ways to continue to deliver services and these results reflect that even through lockdowns and closures, we have largely been able to continue delivering a high level of service to our community.
“There are areas where we would like to see some growth and improvement such as the sealed local roads measure, which is unfortunately still sitting well below the large rural and state average and we’ve dropped again in consultation and engagement so we’ll be seeking to see an improvement in that next year,” Cr Colliton said.
Feedback from residents on what they consider Council most needs to do to improve its performance in the next 12 months supports this finding, with Sealed Road Maintenance mentioned by 20% of residents.
Feedback from residents on what they consider to be the best thing about Council was Customer Service, Parks and Gardens, Recreational and Sporting Facilities and Public Areas.
Held annually, the Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey is undertaken by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. The survey covers councils’ overall performance with benchmarking against State-wide and council group results, community consultation and engagement, advocacy and lobbying on behalf of the community, customer service, local infrastructure, facilities and overall council direction.
The full survey results are available here.