Whittlesea residents rate their council highly according to the latest local government satisfaction survey.
The annual statewide survey, co-ordinated by Local Government Victoria, is designed to provide an insight into how communities view the performance of their councils.
The 2015 results, published last week, show Whittlesea council’s score of 66 as significantly higher than both the state average of 60 and the average index score of 62 for the Interface Council Group, made up of other councils on the metropolitan fringe.
Whittlesea’s survey was conducted by an independent market research company that calls a random sample of telephone numbers from postcodes in the municipality.
The answers of 400 residents over the age of 18 are used to compile results. Whittlesea councillor Sam Alessi said the survey’s findings acknowledged the council’s hard work.
“They reinforce when we’re doing things well,” he said.
But he was wary of the way they glossed over what he viewed as council’s failures, such as spending more than $800,000 to continue the controversial tip voucher system for another year.
The council scored four points higher this year than it did in 2014.
Women were happiest with its performance, while residents aged between 50 and 64 were most unimpressed with services over the past year.
Mernda and Doreen residents gave the lowest score when it came to rating community consultation and engagement, the condition of roads and customer service, while Bundoora residents complained about the council’s lack of advocacy for their specific needs.
Cr Norm Kelly said he didn’t give much weight to the results because of the survey’s small sample size.
