The 2023 Customer Satisfaction Survey numbers are in and Campaspe Shire received an overall grading of 4.9 out of 10.
The survey, conducted by Metropolis Research Pty Ltd, featured responses from 400 residents.
It pinpointed road maintenance and repairs as the number one issue across Campaspe Shire (a score of 3.9 out of 10).
That was followed by flood recovery (also 3.9 out of 10) and drain maintenance and repairs (4.8 out of 10).
Campaspe Shire chief executive officer Pauline Gordon got on the front foot following the survey’s release.
In a meeting on Tuesday night, councillors authorised Ms Gordon to develop an action plan to address lower scoring results by the end of next month.
“There is much for us to improve on, we know that and we accept that,” Ms Gordon said.
“We did expect to see commentary around our roads and infrastructure, especially following on from the October 2022 floods, which is why our 2023/24 draft budget has aligned allocation of funds to address these issues.
“We know the community has been significantly impacted by the floods and some felt council’s response wasn’t adequate.
“Council is committed to continuing its support efforts through the establishment of a Recovery Hub, Recovery Officers and a Municipal Recovery Committee, as well as fully understanding its response and improving its capability into the future.”
But there were some bright spots from the survey.
Council did score well for its local libraries (8.8 out of 10), green waste/recycling and garbage collection (8.2 out of 10), child services (7.4 out of 10) and sporting facilities (7.3 out of 10).
Customer service is another area pinpointed for improvement with average satisfaction rated at 6.2 out of 10.
Ms Gordon said improving customer service was the responsibility of everyone at Campaspe Shire.
“It’s not about our frontline, it’s about our organisation as a whole owning the customer experience, and we are doing a lot of work on that, appreciating that a diverse audience requires diverse methods of engagement and communication,” she said.
Mayor Rob Amos said council had committed funding towards beautifying community assets in the 23/24 draft budget and had heard loud and clear from the community where the priorities are.
“We are united as a council and as an organisation in owning the results of the survey and working as a whole for improvement,” Cr Amos said.
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