Central Goldfields Shire Council has performed strongly in the state-wide 2019 Community Satisfaction Survey returning an index score of 57 out of 100, a 14-point increase from the 2018 results.
The annual Community Satisfaction Survey asks the community to rate a number of Council services in terms of importance and performance. Four hundred community members took part in the survey between 1 February 2019 and 30 March 2019. The data gathered is collated by JWS Research.
The pleasing survey results, were presented at Tuesday night's Ordinary Council Meeting, are similar to average scores for small rural councils (58) and state-wide (60).
Council increased its index score in several other areas including community consultation and engagement (55 up from 45 in 2018), advocacy (53 up from 44), making community decisions (52 up from 42) and overall council direction (57 up from 47).
Satisfaction with Customer Service at 73 points is another significant improvement from 2018 and a higher result than the State wide and Small Rural averages. Overall Council Direction at 57 points is also higher than the State-wide and Small averages.
Improvements by 10 points for Community Consultation and Making Community Decisions and by nine points for Advocacy was also very pleasing, and a reflection of the work undertaken during the year to improve community and stakeholder engagement.
In more positive signs, Council did not experience any significant declines in performance index scores.
Central Goldfields Shire Chief Administrator Noel Harvey said Council is committed to serving the community and advocating on the community's behalf, which is reflected in the Community Satisfaction Survey results.
"We're here for the community. The results from this year's Community Satisfaction Survey shows we are able to articulate our vision into action.
"So far this year, Council has already commenced what will be a significant amount of community consultation for the development of a range of strategies including community planning, economic development and tourism, waste and recreation.
"This level of engagement should set the tone for the future direction of the Shire and we hope to see further increases in these community satisfaction measures."
