Horsham Rural City Council has seen a steady improvement in the results of its community satisfaction survey results and was above average in all major areas except roads.
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Horsham council’s overall performance in 2016 was rated 63, one point higher than last year and nine points higher than the average for Victorian large rural shires.
The most satisfied resident group was people aged 65 years and over, women and Horsham area residents in general.
Horsham council residents in rural areas tended to rate its performance lower than town residents.
The major categories of community consultation; advocacy on behalf of the community; making decisions; customer services; and overall council direction were up on 2015 levels.
These categories also scored higher than the large rural average.
The score for maintaining council-managed sealed roads was three points lower than in 2015 but still above the large rural shire average.
A report to councillors said the Horsham Rural City should be pleased with the result.
The survey contained 13 compulsory questions and Horsham council selected two additional questions.
An agency contracted by the state government phoned 400 people aged 18 and over in Horsham council using a random list.
The phone calls took place in February and March this year.
About 15 per cent of the survey calls took place on a mobile phone to include more views from young people.
The state government’s main objective from the survey is to assess the performance of councils across a range of measures, and to seek insight into ways to provide improved or more effective service delivery.
Every local government is surveyed by the state government but each organisation can choose whether to release the report to the public.
The survey report presented to Horsham council noted how its best category was customer service, with a score of 75.
However, there had been an eight per cent drop in the number of people who had contact with Horsham council.
The responses to questions on Horsham’s advocacy and lobbying efforts yielded a high number of ‘don’t know’ responses.
“This suggests that many people in the community are unaware of what council is doing in this area” the report stated.