BRIMBANK Council’s relationship with its residents is improving, figures from the latest satisfaction survey reveal.
A report released last week showed the council’s indexed score last year for trust and confidence, engagement in making decisions on key issues and keeping the community informed was 7. Under new methodology introduced last year, a score of 6.5 to 7.25 is considered “good”.
Only 10 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the council’s overall performance, a 5 per cent improvement from 2011.
More than 20 per cent of respondents said the council’s performance had improved in the past year, compared to 5 per cent who said it had deteriorated. More than 5000 households were approached last May to take part in the survey. Of these, 2786 were unattended at the time and 1797 declined. Only 800 completed the full survey, 6 per cent fewer than 2011.
Residents highlighted traffic management, safety, public transport, a lack of parks, gardens and open spaces and the condition of footpaths among the biggest issues facing the area.
Daytime public safety was rated “good”, but the night result equated to “poor”, with an index rating of 5.8. The state average was 7.1.
Respondents also rated safety on trains “solid” with an indexed rating of 6.1 (compared to the state average of 7).
More than 66 per cent of respondents said they were experiencing some level of housing- related financial stress, down from 78.9 per cent in 2011.
Almost 35 per cent of respondents said there were too many gaming machines in their local area, down from 42.7 per cent in 2011 and 49.2 per cent in 2009.
Brimbank administrator Peter Lewinsky said the 2012 survey had been conducted using new methodology to give the council greater insight into how it compared to its counterparts.
“This council has been steadily improving since 2008. It appears the council is over a particularly negative period in time and is steadily improving its services and relationship with the community.”
Administrator Jane Nathan agreed the results were promising. “It gives us an opportunity to see what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong.
“We are always trying to improve our services and it is pleasing for us to see that we are at least equal with the state average for customer service and above other councils in terms of how residents feel about the direction this council is going in the future.”
Long-time Sunshine resident John Kodric told the Weekly that the council could improve its communication with residents.
“[The council] sends us all this information in the mail, but it doesn’t hold enough meetings to let us know what’s going on,” he said.
“There are so many migrants in the area who need that interaction with people to understand what is going on in their community.”
