With the introduction of Compulsory Competitive Tendering in Victoria, it is essential for Councils to evaluate the level of service they are offering. Maroondah has taken on this task with determination, undertaking extensive customer satisfaction surveys.
Annually since 1995, it has randomly selected 400 domestic residents and 100 businesses to be asked a range of questions to determine how Council is performing from the community’s perspective. The survey also provides comparisons with other Councils.
“Not only does it give us a chance to see how the Maroondah community view us, it gives us the opportunity to benchmark ourselves against other Councils,” said Phil Turner, Manager Integrated Planning.
“While the Office of Local Government has more recently conducted its own survey of all Councils for Statewide benchmarking, we already had ours well in place providing us with valuable information.”
He noted Maroondah rates very well, with both domestic and business satisfaction rates improving steadily since 1995.
“The former Councils were very proud of their services and this has carried through to the new City,” Phil Turner said. “The community see us as localised and providing reasonable value. We are greatly assisted in this by the community spirit of Maroondah where volunteers help augment our service.
“The surveys also play a valuable role in our planning by showing us what people consider is important in Maroondah. We aim to match our service levels with community expectations.”
He noted that the surveys indicated library services, garbage collection and the pool as the most used services by residents, while aged care and conservation issues also have a high priority. Businesses indicated support for local business and road repairs as high priorities.
“Overall I think it has been a very good exercise to give us a feel as to how Council is travelling,” Phil said. “It also gives us an additional link with the community.”
Chief Executive Officer Michael Marasco added that Council will be striving to not only maintain service levels, but to improve them, delivering the best possible level of service to the community.
For further information contact Phil Turner, telephone (03) 9871 0255.
