Customer service rated highly by residents

Published on 22 June 2018

Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s customer service is among the best in the state, according to results of the annual Customer Satisfaction Survey of residents.

The 2018 results of the annual survey showed Council’s customer service rating was higher than other large rural shires and equal to the state-wide average.

Council’s performance in regard to community consultation and engagement also received top marks from residents, along with maintenance of sealed roads.

Council’s top three performing service areas being emergency management, the appearance of public areas and waste management.

The independent survey is conducted on behalf of councils across Victoria and participation is optional. Results are benchmarked against a state-wide average and similar local government areas (metro, interface, regional centres, small rural and large rural). Macedon Ranges Shire Council is a large rural shire.

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dale Thornton said it was pleasing to see residents were satisfied with Council’s overall performance in the past year.

“When you look at the core performance measures, Council performing on par with or better than other shires of a similar size throughout Victoria.

“It’s terrific to see our customer service ranking so highly - well above the large rural shire and the same as the state-wide average – as all our staff strive to respond efficiently to enquiries and resolve them as quickly as possible,” he said.

Residents rated maintenance of unsealed roads, planning for population growth in the area and roadside slashing and weed control as service areas needing improvements.

“Every year we look at what our community is telling us through these survey results and we look to where we can improve in delivering services to better meet the community’s needs.

“We’ve been working hard to spread the word about our consultations and community engagement activities and to encourage more people to participate, so it’s great to see residents have recognised and are encouraged by this,” he said.

Also in communications, residents nominated email as their preferred method of communication in receiving information from Council, which scored higher than mail for the first time.