City service on par with other LGAs

SIXTY per cent of people who had contact with the City of Greater Bendigo over the last twelve months are happy with the service they received, according to results from the 2024 Local Government Victoria community satisfaction survey.

Seven out of 10 rated their customer service experience as very good or good.

City CEO Andrew Cooney said the response indicated the municipality’s customer service was well regarded and key to serving the community well.

Those undertaking the survey spoke to 401 residents by telephone every three months between June 2023 to March this year and the City’s customer service index rating of 65 was on par with the statewide average.

More than half of those surveyed (56 per cent) had contacted the council in the previous 12 months.

Overall, Greater Bendigo’s performance in three of the four main service areas evaluated remains in line with the regional centre group of municipalities and statewide averages.

The city scored highest for waste management in the service area categories (an index score of 61), with 18 per cent of people describing it as very good and 38 per cent saying it was good, while 23 per cent thought it was average.

Its waste management efforts remained similar to other regional centres despite dropping by nine index points.

The City’s overall performance score was 53, a drop of three points last year but again in line with others around the state.

Decisions made in the interest of the community was 49, which was close to regional averages, with the highest score from people aged over 65.

Consultation and engagement scored 49, with 6 per cent of those surveyed saying it was very good, 23 per cent that it was good, and 33 per cent that it was average.

Sealed roads received an index score of 46, compared to 53 last year; regional and statewide averages were 46 and 45 respectively.

Mr Cooney said although the number of people surveyed was small, it did help the City understand community perceptions about the council’s main services – and he acknowledged the drop in rating for waste management.

“It coincided with a significant change… with the waste bin becoming a fortnightly collection,” he said.

“We’ve seen a 34 per cent reduction in general waste and a 60 per cent increase in food organics and garden organics.”

Mr Cooney said the scores for sealed roads were on par with others and reflected the heavy impact of the recent floods, with the city pushing for Federal funding and working on repairing many of the issues.

Visit bendigo.vic.gov.au for results.