Byron Shire Council’s Satisfaction Survey Report is available on its website, having been quietly published in November last year.
So what do residents think of living here and how Council delivers its services?
Consultants Micromex Research conducted the survey in February 2024, and say a total of 402 residents were interviewed.
They say, ‘Respondents were selected by means of a computer-based random selection process using Australian marketing lists, Sample Pages, List Brokers and Lead Lists’.
Nature highly valued
In summary, Micromex Research say, ‘Encouragingly, compared to 2023, a higher proportion of residents rated their quality of life in the area as “good” to “excellent” (increasing from 92 per cent to 96 per cent), with the natural environment remaining the most valued aspect of living in the Byron Shire LGA’.
‘Council’s overall performance has softened slightly from 2023, with results showing the biggest gaps in resident expectations and Council’s performance within connectivity measures (roads, public transport, parking, traffic, cycle paths and footpaths) and development/ future planning (e.g., affordable housing, managing development, DA processing and planning for the future).
‘The regression analysis indicates that planning and management, communication between Council and residents, and infrastructure within the Council area are key drivers of overall satisfaction.
‘Furthermore, an expanded regression analysis involving satisfaction with contact, highlights the importance of customer service in shaping community perception regarding Council’s performance.
‘Moving forward, Council should prioritise improving roads and development management.
‘However, more frequent, prompt, and in-depth communication to inform residents about upcoming road upgrades and development planning may also be an efficient way to enhance residents’ satisfaction levels’.
Role of media
As for keeping informed of Council news and activities, the report reads on page 43, ‘Although local newspaper, local radio and rates notice newsletter are still the most common channels of being kept informed of Council news and activities, there were significant drops in the cut through of local radio and rates notice newsletter’.
‘Comparing the number of contact channels residents use, although not significant, overall satisfaction with Council is higher as the number of touch points increase.
When respondents were asked, ‘How are you currently informed of general Council news and events?’, 72 per cent of respondents said local newspaper, while 38 per cent said local radio and 37 per cent said rates notice newsletter.
Service areas
On page 8 of the Satisfaction Survey, it says respondents said Council performs ‘good’ with ten service areas, the next performance rating is described as ‘monitor’, with 14 service areas identified.
The last performance rating is ‘needs improvement’ with 17 service areas identified.
Online, Council’s website claims that overall satisfaction with Council is 2.92, which is ‘scored out of a range of one to five, with one being very unsatisfied to five being very satisfied. As for ‘Satisfaction with customer service provided by Council’, the score was 3.27.
Council staff also claim that 32 per cent of residents are ‘somewhat satisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ with the customer service they received from Council.
Priority issues
As for priority issues for the Byron Shire LGA (page 46), respondents said affordability/availability of housing and land (50 per cent), managing population growth and development (33 per cent) and condition and maintenance of roads (28 per cent).
Most valued aspects for those who responded was natural environment, rural lifestyle and sense of community.
And 32 per cent of those who had contacted Council in the last 24 months had their issue resolved after the first contact, while 25 per cent stated that their issues had not been resolved yet (a significant increase compared to 2023).
Within their report, Micromex Research only compare their 2024 findings with 2023, omitting previous years. For more info, including surveys going back to 2016, are available at https://tinyurl.com/5n6k4aw2.
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