Community sentiment survey offers achance to share views

IF you get a knock on the door over the next few weeks, don’t worry, it may just be the chance you’ve been wanting to share a few thoughts and ideas.

Around 800 Ballarat residents will soon be randomly invited to share their views on the City of Ballarat’s services and engagement through a new Community Sentiment Survey.

Door-to-door interviews are being conducted across the municipality throughout January and February, with the format allowing for deeper in-person engagement and richer insights into community perspectives.

Independent survey provider Metropolis Research is conducting the survey on behalf of the City.

Interviewers from Metropolis Research will carry photo ID, a letter from the City of Ballarat and a branded lanyard, and each interview will take about 15 minutes, with all responses confidential.

Researchers will comply with Australian Communications and Media Authority guidelines, which allow interviews to take place between 9am-8.30pm on weekdays and 9am-5pm on weekends.

A spokesperson for the City said the survey has been introduced to explore resident perspectives on key topics in greater depth, helping to guide future council decisions and improvements to services, facilities and activities.

In the case of rural residents that are harder to reach via door-to-door, some interviews may be conducted by phone.

Ballarat mayor Tracey Hargreaves said the council greatly appreciates the involvement of residents and encourages those who are invited to take part.

“This new survey format gives us the opportunity to gather detailed insights from our community,” she said.

“By introducing in-person interviews, we can achieve a more meaningful understanding of what matters most to residents.”

Further performance and satisfaction data will be collected during the annual City of Ballarat Community Satisfaction Survey in February.