Councillor disunity influences customer satisfaction survey results
July 1, 2016
Mayor Frank Buchanan has placed councillor disunity squarely in the frame after Colac Otway Shire Council's ratings dropped in the latest community satisfaction survey.
Council rated lower on core performance measures except customer service in the 2016 survey, which involves 400 over the phone interviews with Colac Otway Shire residents.
Cr Buchanan said it was unfair to blame the organisation for the results when it was clear the community was sending councillors a message about current disunity and conflicting information being shared by individual councillors.
"The community satisfaction survey is about community perceptions of our performance. If you take sealed local roads as an example, our rating has dropped from 44 in 2015 to 37 in 2016, yet spending on sealed local roads increased by $600,000 in that period.
"What's interesting is that a neighbouring Council also experienced a drop in roads ratings, but further investigation by that Council revealed that many of the roads people were concerned about were actually managed by VicRoads.
"We had a marginal drop in advocacy ratings, yet in the past six months, we received funding for additional train services, a new police station, improved court house, upgrades to the Birregurra tennis and netball courts, bushfire recovery and the Central Reserve – all of these issues Council had lobbied very strongly on.
"Community consultation dropped two points around the time that we were completing one of the most heavily participated consultations we've done in years, on the Lake Colac Foreshore Masterplan, which involved hundreds of people giving us feedback. It also came around the time that we launched Council's new website, which makes access to all manner of Council documents easier and more straightforward.
"These are just some examples where perception doesn't match performance, and on that basis as a group of Councillors we have to accept that the results are influenced by how our community feels about the seven of us."
Cr Buchanan said Council was actively putting measures in place to bring about more unity and hold councillors accountable for a high standard of professional and cooperative behaviour.
"In June we adopted a new councillor Code of Conduct that sets the standard for all councillors to work together in a mature and respectful way. Now Council has adopted the code, all councillors are bound by it, whether they sign the document or not.
"All seven councillors must face up to what our community is telling us through this survey, and we must adapt our behaviour accordingly by having open and respectful conversations with the organisation; by ensuring any community feedback received is passed onto the organisation to be actioned; and by backing the majority decision of Council once it has been made – that's democracy in action and that's what all of Australia expects from its elected representatives," Cr Buchanan said.
Cr Buchanan said it was great to see emergency and disaster management was one of Council's strongest performance areas following the Wye River and Separation Creek bushfires.
Elderly support services and family support services were the other top performance areas for Council.
Cr Buchanan said Council was responding strongly to improve people's perceptions and experiences with planning, which has consistently been a low performing area in the survey.
"We have a fast track planner in place providing rapid responses to 'mum and dad' projects such as building front fences, constructing sheds or repainting heritage buildings.
"The organisation is also well on the way to a targeted review of the planning scheme to cut red tape and clear out unnecessary regulations."
Cr Buchanan said Council was committed to turning around the community's opinions about Council.
"We want this community to know that we've heard what they're saying. I want to see all Councillors at the table working together as a seven, with the organisation and the community to make our shire something people can take pride in."
Copies of the 2016 Community Satisfaction Survey can be downloaded from the COS website.
Council Enquiries
(03) 5232 9400