2012 community survey report - executive summary

2012 Community Survey ReportExecutive summary

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................................... 1

Background (we asked)........................................................................................................................... 1

Key findings (you told us) ........................................................................................................................ 2

Unprompted awareness, importance and usage of Council services ................................................. 2

Overall Satisfaction with Council’s performance ................................................................................. 3

Satisfaction with Council’s services..................................................................................................... 4

Suggestions for improvement ............................................................................................................ 10

What Council will do now (we listened and acted upon)....................................................................... 11

Community oriented programs and services ..................................................................................... 11

Waste collection and recycling .......................................................................................................... 11

Environmental sustainability .............................................................................................................. 12

Parks, playgrounds, street trees and reserves .................................................................................. 12

Roads and footpaths.......................................................................................................................... 13

Community engagement and information provision .......................................................................... 13

Value for money................................................................................................................................. 13

Customer service............................................................................................................................... 14

4255_City of Tea Tree Gully_Community Survey 2012 Report

— 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background (we asked)

The City of Tea Tree Gully has conducted a Community Survey on an annual basis since 2001. The

survey is an important way for Council to understand how the community views their performance and

service delivery and the level of satisfaction residents have with key services.

In December 2010, a review of the survey was undertaken which highlighted the need to re-establish

the intent of the survey and the questions asked, as well as changing the methodology from hard copy

self-completion (sent to all households with the December Gully Grapevine) to a telephone survey.

This change in methodology enabled better management of the sample and the ability to ensure it was

more representative of the broader community in terms of age and gender. This revised approach was

implemented in March 2011.

The survey questions focused on the following areas:

• Service awareness, usage and value

• Satisfaction with key services, including customer service.

Minor survey revisions were made from the 2011 survey for administering in 2012, however the

majority of questions were unchanged in order to allow for comparison of results over time.

Council commissioned 400 x 15 minute CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview) interviews to

be conducted on its behalf in March 2012. Residents not randomly selected to participate in the phone

survey had the opportunity to complete the survey via membership of Council’s online Community

Panel. A total of 325 additional surveys were collected via the panel.


— 2

Key findings (you told us)

The phone (CATI) and panel samples are presented separately in this report. Panel members, by the

nature of their membership, have an increased familiarity with Council and its services due to the

Council surveys they participate in, as well as (for some) a higher level of involvement in their

community.

Panel members also often join with specific areas of interest, such as the environment, and this may

contribute to their differing responses. It is also felt that panel members often have higher expectations

of Council’s performance, which may explain a trend for panel members to be less inclined to provide

‘top 2 box’ or very satisfied ratings.

Commentary is provided where a notable difference in satisfaction was found between the phone and

panel respondents and where the characteristics mentioned above are thought to be a contributing

factor.

Results are compared to those obtained in 2011 for each sample. For the phone (CATI) sample,

differences determined as being statistically significant, that is, where differences represent ‘real’

changes and not simply a chance occurrence, are noted where applicable with red and green arrows.

Unprompted awareness, importance and usage of Council services

Consistent with results from the 2011 research, waste/garbage collection, Library, parks & reserves

and roads, were again the services that residents valued most and were most aware of.

In terms of awareness, waste/garbage collection again was the most widely recalled service, with 78%

of respondents identifying this as a service provided by Council. Mention of this service as the most

important also increased significantly, from 43% to 50% in 2012, which may be linked to the rollout of

Council’s new three bin system last year. Forty-six percent of respondents identified the Library as a

service provided by Council, followed by parks and reserves (39%) and roads (30%).

When it came to actual usage of Council services, waste/garbage collection is still the most highly

used service provided by Council (67%), followed by the Library (44%), parks & reserves (23%) and

hard waste collection, which saw a significant increase in awareness from 7% to 19% in this year’s

results1.

The following table summarises how the top services rank on the three dimensions of awareness,

usage and importance and demonstrates what the City of Tea Tree Gully is known for and what

services residents use and value. Waste/garbage collection continues to be the highest ranked service

across these dimensions for the second year.

Importance

(combined top 3 choices)

Unprompted

awareness Unprompted usage*

Waste/garbage collection 1 1 1

Parks & reserves 3 3 3

Roads 2 4 6

Library 3 2 2

* Hard waste collection 4th

place and green waste 5th

place

1 An effort was made this year to ensure hard waste collection was coded separately and not combined with waste/garbage

collection and this may have contributed to the increase in reported usage this year.


— 3

Overall Satisfaction with Council’s performance

Overall satisfaction with Council’s performance continues to be in the moderate range (63% combined

satisfied/very satisfied ratings) and has seen a slight, but not statistically significant, decrease since

the 2011 study. A corresponding shift was also seen with panel members’ satisfaction, falling from

69% to 65%, and once again they were less inclined to be very satisfied with Council’s performance.

Dissatisfaction levels for the phone sample were virtually unchanged compared to 2011.

Note: due to rounding some scores may range from 99% to 101%. T2B refers to “top two box”. Please

see page 4 for more information.

Phone data

17 15

5048

2529

5 6

3 3

0

20

40

60

80

100

2011 (n=399) 2012 (n=397)

% r

es

po

nse Very dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Satisfied

Very satisfied

Panel data

8 4

6161

2021

1010

1

5

0

20

40

60

80

100

2011 (n=307) 2012 (n=307)

% r

es

po

ns

e

Very dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Satisfied

Very satisfied

67%

T2B 63%

T2B

69%

T2B 65%

T2B


— 4

Satisfaction with Council’s services

The following scale provides an easy method to understand and interpret the results for satisfaction

with Council services. This is based on newfocus’s many years of experience in conducting research

for local government.

Satisfaction (combined ‘top 2 box’ scores T2B – satisfied & very satisfied)

Very High High Relatively high Moderate Relatively low Low

90%+ 80% - 89% 70% - 79% 60% - 69% 50% - 59% 49% or less

Dissatisfaction (combined ‘bottom 2 box’ scores B2B – dissatisfied & very dissatisfied)

Minimal Low Moderate Relatively High High

4% or less 5%-9% 10%-14% 15%-19% 20%+

Throughout the key findings in this report, we also refer to areas of ‘service excellence’, ‘strength’ and

‘areas for opportunity’. An area of ‘service excellence’ is where the combined T2B scores equal 90%

or above, with at least 50% of respondents providing a very satisfied rating. A service is classified as

being a ‘strength’ where the overall T2B score is 80% or above, and an ‘area for opportunity’ is where

the combined B2B scores equal 20% or above.

Waste Collection

The introduction of a new three bin system in May 2011 and increased frequency of green waste

collection (from monthly to fortnightly) has had a positive impact on residents’ perceptions of Council’s

waste collection service.

Satisfaction with waste collection was found to be quite high amongst residents, with green waste

collection identified as an area of service excellence, and the overall waste collection service still

being an area of strength for Council. In particular, green waste collection was identified in 2011 as an

area where dissatisfaction was quite high (20% B2B), so to be classed as an area of service

excellence in 2012 is quite an achievement by Council.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change from

2011

Green waste collection 61 20 90 4 +29�

Recycling services 68 13 88 6 +20�

Waste collection service

overall 76 9 89 3 +13�

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change from

2011

Green waste collection 62 28 89 5 +27

Recycling services 69 19 84 8 +15

Waste collection service

overall 79 12 88 6 +9


— 5

Roads and footpaths

Resident satisfaction with roads and footpaths was generally consistent with 2011 results and quite

low overall, with each service area (excluding condition of main roads) being identified as an area for

opportunity due to the low B2B scores. Three of these areas for opportunity also saw decreases of 5%

from the 2011 findings. Panel results were also fairly consistent although these experience some

increases in satisfaction in the areas of footpaths and roadside verge appearance.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Condition of local or residential roads 48 19 43 21 -5

Condition of main roads (generally dual

lane roads and high traffic roads) 58 11 60 12 +2

Provision of footpaths in your local area 50 25 45 28 -5

Maintenance of footpaths in your local area 48 28 43 31 -5

Appearance of roadside verges in your

local area 46 24 46 28 -

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Condition of local or residential roads 58 25 56 25 -2

Condition of main roads (generally dual

lane roads and high traffic roads) 66 17 63 21 -3

Provision of footpaths in your local area 42 38 46 40 +4

Maintenance of footpaths in your local area 34 42 39 38 +5

Appearance of roadside verges in your

local area 30 50 33 48 +3

Parks, playgrounds and trees

With regard to parks, playgrounds and trees, overall results are relatively similar to the 2011 results,

although two areas did have larger changes in satisfaction levels. While still relatively high, a

statistically significant drop was recorded for provision of parks, reserves and playing fields. A similar

drop for provision of playgrounds was also found, although this wasn’t determined as being a

significant decrease. Despite seeing a slight increase from the 2011 results, maintenance of street trees has again been

identified as an area for opportunity.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Provision of parks, reserves and playing

fields 80 5 74 7 -6�

Maintenance of parks, reserves and

playing fields 67 10 69 7 +2

Provision of playgrounds 68 8 62 12 -6

Maintenance of playgrounds 67 9 65 8 -2

Provision of street trees 58 14 59 16 +1

Maintenance of street trees 44 24 46 26 +2

Control of litter and rubbish 62 13 65 11 +3


— 6

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Provision of parks, reserves and playing

fields 84 4 81 6 -3

Maintenance of parks, reserves and

playing fields 68 16 72 13 +4

Provision of playgrounds 71 10 72 6 +1

Maintenance of playgrounds 67 11 66 7 -1

Provision of street trees 60 21 56 22 -4

Maintenance of street trees 44 36 45 33 +1

Control of litter and rubbish 53 24 55 23 +2

Environmental sustainability

In a slight increase from last year’s results, just over half (52%) of residents surveyed through the

CATI methodology were satisfied with Council’s efforts in environmental sustainability practices.

Dissatisfaction has also seen a slight increase (by 3%). Panel members again show higher

satisfaction levels, indicating this may be linked with their increased awareness of Council’s activities

in this area.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Delivering long term environmental

benefits through initiatives and programs 49 8 52 11 +3

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Delivering long term environmental benefits

through initiatives and programs 66 8 64 8 -2


— 7

Community orientated programs and services

Waterworld and the Library service continue to be areas of strength with satisfaction scores of 80% or

above. Satisfaction with art and cultural activities, events and entertainment and recreation services

have each seen increases compared to the 2011 survey. Satisfaction with the former is possibly due

to the fact that the biennial Civic Park Spectacular was held the month before the survey was

conducted and therefore was more top of mind.

Of note is panel members’ satisfaction with the provision of arts and cultural performances and

activities again being higher than that seen in the phone survey, which may be reflective of a higher

level of community involvement in this area. This may also explain their higher satisfaction with

community centres and programs.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

The provision of Community Centres and

community services and programs 63 4 63 6 -

The provision of arts and cultural

performances and activities 50 10 54 9 +4

Events and entertainment (eg

Movies@thePark, Civic Park Spectacular) 65 9 71 6 +6

Council’s Recreation Centres 69 5 72 4 +3

Waterworld 80 5 80 5 -

Council’s Library services 88 2 88 2 -

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

The provision of Community Centres and

community services and programs 72 5 73 5 +1

The provision of arts and cultural

performances and activities 65 7 65 6 -

Events and entertainment (eg

Movies@thePark, Civic Park Spectacular) 66 7 67 11 +1

Council’s Recreation Centres 74 4 73 3 -1

Waterworld 72 4 70 5 -2

Council’s Library services 90 2 87 2 -3


— 8

Customer service

As with the 2011 survey, just over half of respondents (and two-thirds of panel members) said they

had contacted Council in the last 12 months. The majority contact Council by phone, although higher

proportions of panel members contacted Council by face to face and by email.

Being polite and courteous is an area where the City of Tea Tree Gully Council staff have achieved

service excellence, with 91% of residents being satisfied overall. Being professional is also an area of

strength for Council customer service representatives, with over 80% being satisfied. An area that has

been identified as an opportunity is the manner in which Council dealt with your query or problem. This

aspect of service has seen a significant decrease (of 11%) since the 2011 survey was conducted.

Reasons for dissatisfaction were again mostly outcome related, with almost half of those dissatisfied

stating they felt nothing was done to address their problem or issue and there was an increase in

those who didn’t agree with the outcome.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Responding promptly 81 8 72 13 -9�

Providing information that met your

needs 79 10 70 17 -9�

Providing clear explanations 76 12 70 18 -6

Being professional 84 7 83 8 -1

Being polite and courteous 89 4 91 2 +2

Manner in which Council dealt with

your query or problem 73 15 62 20 -11�

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Responding promptly 84 9 85 9 +1

Providing information that met your

needs 77 14 74 17 -3

Providing clear explanations 79 14 72 17 -7

Being professional 85 8 83 10 -2

Being polite and courteous 90 5 89 5 -1

Manner in which Council dealt with your

query or problem 70 20 67 23 -3


— 9

Council communication

Satisfaction with general information received from Council has seen a slight decrease since 2011,

however B2B scores have remained consistently low.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

General information received from

Council 72 6 68 7 -4

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

General information received from

Council 76 7 78 9 +2

Community engagement

In terms of community engagement, overall T2B satisfaction has seen a decrease of 7% since 2011 in

respondents who completed the survey over the phone. B2B scores have remained consistent with

last year’s research. Panel members’ satisfaction was again higher than the phone results, which is

most likely a reflection of their involvement with Community Panel, one of Council’s methods of

engagement.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Ability to have your say regarding

decisions that affect you 50 19 43 19 -7

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Ability to have your say regarding

decisions that affect you 64 17 62 19 -2

Perceptions of value for money

When asked about value for money, a significant decrease of 12% was found in overall satisfaction

since 2011. B2B scores for dissatisfaction were found to be quite high, and have therefore been

identified as an area for opportunity.

2011 Phone

results

2012 Phone

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Value for money in return for rates paid 42 24 30 36 -12�

2011 Panel

results

2012 Panel

results

T2B% B2B% T2B% B2B%

T2B% change

from 2011

Value for money in return for rates paid 41 33 36 40 -5


— 10

Importance of amenity that street trees provide on local streets

This year an additional question was included which sought to measure the importance residents

placed on street trees on local streets in contributing to the amenity of the City, that is, the

environmental benefits, provision of shade and adding to the look and feel of an area. The level of

importance was found to be quite high, with 84% indicating it was important to them. Very few (only

3%) found it to be unimportant.

2012 Phone results

Importance

T2B%

Importance

B2B%

Amenity provided by street trees on local streets in

the City of Tea Tree Gully 84 3

2012 Panel results

Importance

T2B%

Importance

B2B%

Amenity provided by street trees on local streets in

the City of Tea Tree Gully 88 5

Note: Question first introduced in 2012

Suggestions for improvement

At the conclusion of the survey, respondents were asked if they had one suggestion for Council as to

how it could improve its services. Some increases were found in:

• Nothing/happy with them (14% up from 9%)

• More communication/kept updated/newsletters/email/councillor contact/hold information evenings

(9% up from 6%).

In the 2011 research, residents’ suggestions were generally around waste and removal of rubbish, for

example:

• Rubbish/green waste collection/recycling/reliable/collected more frequently/more public bins/offer

free dump runs (now 4%, down from 8%)

• Change the rubbish system/larger bins/separate rubbish from recycling/have more

environmentally friendly trucks (was 5%, now 0%).

Given the change to a three bin system and increased frequency of green waste collection, it is

unsurprising the scores noted above have decreased.


— 11

What Council will do now (we listened and acted upon)

Section written by Council staff

The Community Survey is an important way for us to understand how the community views our

performance and service delivery. We surveyed a good representation of our City’s adult population

base across all age groups and wards. We are committed to taking this community feedback into

consideration when planning our services and programs. As a result of this year’s survey, we will be

undertaking many initiatives and improvements.

Community oriented programs and services

Recreation, leisure and lifestyle

Improvements we made to Waterworld last year, such as the splash ground and waterslides, helped us to maintain our high satisfaction rating from last year and also increase attendance, and we will continue to look at ways we can further improve this valuable service. Over the next twelve months we will be developing a Master Plan for the Modbury Sporting Complex site, which includes Waterworld, to see how we can better use this area for the benefit of the community. Levels of community satisfaction also increased slightly for both our recreation centres and our events and entertainment. In the next twelve months our Recreation and Leisure Services will be upgrading the Golden Grove, Turramurra and Burragah Recreation Centres with improved lounge and entry areas, new scoreboards and new signage. Satisfaction with our community centres, services and programs and with provision of arts and cultural activities remained relatively unchanged. In the coming year we will be developing healthy lifestyle programs for our community – particularly the aged, youth and disadvantaged groups – thanks to a grant from the Federal Government.

Library

Now that we have implemented the One Card network, we will be looking to make further

improvements. These will enhance the online experience and improve access to online databases and

allow users to share reviews via social networking tools. E-books will also be introduced across the

state and be accessible to all of our customers.

Arts and culture

As mentioned before, satisfaction levels regarding our arts and cultural activities have remained

moderate but stable. We believe this may partly be due to awareness levels and will be developing a

marketing plan for arts and culture. Our aim is to provide better information about and improve our

promotion of the spaces and programs available to our community.

Waste collection and recycling

The three-bin system is a resounding success, with satisfaction levels up significantly from 2011. We

are very pleased with these results and the positive impact that the new system has made in the

community. We will be conducting a waste audit, due to be completed in May/June 2012, which will

inform the next stage of community waste education and how we can recycle better and reduce our

waste to landfill.

The coming financial year will see national and state restrictions starting for e-waste (electronic waste)

which we will need to be mindful of in order to achieve benchmarks for recycling waste and be an

information point for the community.


— 12

Environmental sustainability

Although community satisfaction has slightly increased for our work on delivering long term

environmental benefits, we are still committed to doing more. In the past year we commissioned the

Wastewater Treatment Plant and installed a wind turbine at Wynn Vale Community Centre, among

other projects. In the coming year, we plan to build on this.

The steering committee has formed for the new Dernancourt Community Garden and meets regularly

to plan and establish the garden. The fence is now in place, while the shed, tank and purchase of

various hand tools will be completed during June 2012.

The Wynn Vale Dam Outdoor Environmental Classroom will be completed in June 2012. This self-

guided trail will have key signage and talking points to share information about local history,

environment, the community garden, indigenous history, water harvesting, and aquifer storage and

recovery.

Through our community centres, recent migrant groups can access the Home Energy Assistance

Program to receive home audits and advice regarding energy use. This program is run by Uniting

Communities (formerly Wesley United Care) and funded by the Adelaide Solar Cities (ASC) program.

We are also installing solar panels on the John G Tilley Centre with part-funding through ASC. This is

due for completion on 30 June 2013.

We also hope to continue delivering talks to community groups on energy and waste and recycling in

the coming year.

In general, we will also continue to seek funding opportunities to help us support existing programs

and initiatives and develop new ones.

Parks, playgrounds, street trees and reserves

We continue to receive a high level of satisfaction with our parks, reserves and playing fields, although

satisfaction with the provision of such was down in 2012.

This year our survey also included a question on the importance of street trees on local streets in our

City. The response showed they are of high importance to our community. We are also mindful of

ongoing low levels of satisfaction with our maintenance of street trees and are working to improve this.

Arbortrack, our tree management system, has started to be implemented. Over the next twelve to

eighteen months it will gather the information needed to plan future works and ensure better reporting

on the condition and age of trees. This will also help to improve the amenity and safety of our trees

and contribute to a more visually pleasing environment.

We will be increasing our tall tree pruning program later this year, and continuing it into 2013.

We will also be introducing alternative sprays and methods of weed control. We have succeeded in

controlling Caltrop this season and will continue to monitor its control.

Although we again achieved moderate levels of satisfaction with the provision and maintenance of

playgrounds, the satisfaction level was down slightly on last year. We will use our Open Space

Strategy to inform the development of a Playground Strategy to prioritise the provision and

maintenance of playgrounds according to use and need.


— 13

In general, we will continue to keep the community up to date with the work that we are doing in

making our City a green and pleasant place in which to live, work and play.

Roads and footpaths

Roads and footpaths are areas that consistently receive low satisfaction levels from the community.

We acknowledge this and will be working hard to address these concerns.

One reason for low satisfaction with roads may be a low level of awareness as to which roads belong

to Council and which have shared ownership with other levels of government. We will continue to work

closely with the State and Federal Governments and advocate for improved main roads in our area.

We will continue to roll out our maintenance programs for roads and footpaths. We have developed a local footpath development program, recognising that the community carries mixed views regarding the establishment of new footpaths in their local areas. We also plan be more proactive about informing the community when and where we are working on roads and footpaths. As well, we will be making sure the community is aware of the work our crews and contractors do, and have more visible Council branding at our work sites. We will be looking at options to explore the key reasons for dissatisfaction with our roads and footpaths. We value the efforts made by community members in alerting us to safety issues regarding our roads and footpaths. We will continue to encourage this feedback.

Community engagement and information provision

Satisfaction with the general information received from us declined slightly, resulting in a change from relatively high satisfaction to moderate levels of satisfaction. Similarly, satisfaction levels regarding the ability to have a say on decisions affecting community members as individuals also fell. In the last eighteen months, we have provided more opportunities than ever for the community to have a say, indeed providing more than the legislated requirements. We believe the lower levels of satisfaction may be more related to the outcomes and decisions made, and whether our community members feel their views were listened to and taken into consideration. We will continue with our best practice approach for community engagement, as well as continue to build our capacity of key staff around conducting community engagement activities. We will also be looking at how we can improve our online engagement capabilities.

Value for money

While many of our programs and services received high levels of satisfaction, community perception regarding Council’s value for money continues to be low and fell significantly from the previous year. Some of this may be due to the survey being conducted immediately after our rates review and associated with the 6.3% rates increase in the current financial year (2011–2012). Furthermore our minimum rate continues to be significantly higher than other metropolitan councils. We also recognise that we are not as developed as other councils in providing detailed information about our services and programs and what they cost. Our communications strategy has a number of actions planned that focus on building awareness of these services. We believe this will help us to manage expectations of delivery and value for money. These actions include developing fact sheets for key service delivery areas; developing key messages about what we do and the standard to which we do it; demonstrating value for money; and being open, timely and customer-focused in our communications.


— 14

As well, we will be looking at ways we can make sure we are providing value for money. During 2012 the expression “cutting our cloth” has been used to evoke the notion of finding better ways of doing things. We have established a service review and continuous improvement framework to make sure the services and programs we provide are the most valued ones and are delivered in the most efficient way. In the long term we are looking at an expenditure savings of $25 million. We will be implementing a debt reduction program. We will also be absorbing significant one-off cost increases associated with the introduction of the Carbon Tax and the Zero Waste Levy by reducing our expenditure on contractors and consultants. Our proposed rate increase for 2012–2013 is forecast to be 4.5% (excluding the impact of growth and new rating system) and is the lowest of the metropolitan council proposed rate increases. The capping of the minimum rate at the same level as in 2011–2012 is a key measure to provide relief to our ratepayers and to bridge the gap between our rates and those charged by other councils.

Customer service

More than half of the people participating in this year’s Community Survey had contacted us in the last twelve months. Most of them contacted us by phone with their first point of contact being our Customer Service Centre. Overall we rated well, especially regarding being polite, courteous and professional. However, compared with the previous year, we did not perform as well providing clear information that met customer’s needs or in the manner with which customer’s queries or problems were dealt with. We will be working to improve customer interactions and perceptions in the coming year and a number of initiatives are planned or already underway. We have recently introduced improvements for service quality and timeliness in several areas. These include expiation dispute forms that can now be lodged online or at reception; the ability for reception staff to waive expiation notices after sighting the relevant disability permit or statutory declaration and updated waste collection information available on the website. We are keen to improve our responsiveness to our customers at every level – a review of our service standards and implementation of a complaints management system will help us achieve this. We have also established a new online feedback form for requests, compliments and complaints. This has proven to be a useful tool for receiving feedback from our customers – in the last six months we have had over 150 feedback submissions provided in this way. Another key focus for the next 12 months is reviewing our processes and procedures, in particular the ways we share information and knowledge internally so we can provide a higher level of first point of contact resolution to our customers. We will be making sure our website and brochures are up to date and correct. Using these methods, as well as Gully Views and the Gully Grapeview, we will be able to more effectively communicate key changes to our services. We are also working to establish a broader range of online services to improve accessibility and interaction with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

2012 community survey report - executive summary

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