Quarterly surveys get underway

AN INDEPENDENT survey is set to be conducted in the following weeks as part of the City of Ballarat’s new quarterly community satisfaction surveys.

Every three months 200 residents will be contacted and asked to give feedback related to their satisfaction with the City’s services.

The result from the surveys will be put together in an annual summary which will be shared with council at a meeting in mid-2024 and uploaded to the City of Ballarat website.

In total the four surveys will cost more than $20,000, with no extra costs due to the quarterly basis of the surveys as opposed to conducting it annually.

Mayor Cr Des Hudson encouraged the community to give feedback so the council has a better understanding of residents’ opinions.

“We are working hard to ensure ratepayers are getting value for money in terms of the services, facilities and projects the City of Ballarat provides to the community,” he said.

Respondents will be contacted by phone, beginning yesterday, and ending on Sunday 17 September.

The caller will not ask for the respondent by name, they will identify themselves as being from National Field Services and will state how long the call is expected to take.

The calls will always come from a 03 9977 prefix and will never come from a mobile number.

All resident responses will be confidential and will only be given to the City of Ballarat.

“Across the organisation, we’re taking concrete steps to improve services and processes for our community,” said Cr Hudson.

“However, the community satisfaction survey gives us an opportunity to evaluate how we are tracking.”

Annual municipal satisfaction surveys are a mandatory State Government requirement.