The results are in for a community survey conducted by Iris Research on behalf of Tenterfield Shire Council, with an increase of 0.2 points out of five in overall satisfaction with services and facilities, to arrive at a score of 3.3.
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Those dissatisfied tended to be in the 18-34 years age group and live outside town.
Those satisfied were evenly spread across age groups although the 65 years plus are particularly satisfied. They were also more likely to be newer arrivals.
Perhaps a more fundamental gauge was that 76 per cent of residents were proud to tell people they live in the Tenterfield Shire, although this is down slightly on a 2015 survey.
The highest performing council services were the Tenterfield School of Arts Theatre and Museum, while unsealed roads in the shire caused the most angst.
The six services identified as potentially having the most impact on customer satisfaction should they be improved were:
- the sealed road network,
- car parking,
- planning and development,
- weeds control,
- waste management, and
- maintenance of local bridges.
Forty-five per cent of residents had occasion to contact council over the previous 12 months, predominantly about roads, rates or complaints. Overall these people found dealing with council’s customer service to be a positive experience, rating the staff for their friendliness, approachability and professionalism.
The graph below reports on the surveyed satisfaction with council’s transport services. Hover over the different areas to get a breakdown of the statistics...
There was some contradictory feedback in regard to other community engagement. Participation in the council’s ‘listening post’ efforts has not been overwhelming, yet residents are seeking more input into long-term planning and decision-making. Over 35 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the way council interacts with them, while 34 per cent weren’t.
Forty-three percent were satisfied with council’s leadership, while 28 per cent were dissatisfied. There were positive moves over the past three years since the last survey in the areas of council’s productivity given its resources, its transparency and professionalism, and its efficiency and effectiveness.
The statistics were drawn from 417 surveys collected from a random sample of the shire’s adult residents. Most surveys were phone-based although the results include 12 responses from the online survey made available to engage the 18-34 years age bracket which is harder to reach by listed phone number.
