How Does the Coffs Region Score?

In a first for the region, the towns, villages and precincts that make up the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area will soon have their own ‘score’ to reflect how unique, vibrant and exciting these places are in the eyes of the community.

In collaboration with independent research agency Place Score, Council is conducting both online and face-to-face surveys throughout November to measure ‘place experience’; allowing communities to share what they most care about and rate their own neighbourhoods.

Coffs Harbour City Council’s Local Planning Section Leader Sharon Smith said Place Score was a first for the area and would add to other community consultation findings.

“Council is in frequent consultation with the community to assist in better shaping the places they live, work and play in through qualitative feedback.

“This will be the first time we can measure our different ‘places’ across the local government area to gain a numerical benchmark to diagnose problems, identify priorities and measure change to understand where we are doing well and where there is room for improvement.

“It will also allow us to measure the visitor experience in our places for the first time, which could provide further insights to our tourism and events industry and also facilitate key projects such as the Integrated Transport Strategy for Coffs Harbour,” Ms Smith said.

Place Score’s Ainsley Milton said this simple census-like survey could help Council to make informed decisions about priorities and measure return on investment.

“The Coffs Harbour Place Score survey will first ask residents to identify what they value in their neighbourhood and then rate how it is performing. The results will identify what is contributing positively and negatively to their experience to determine the priorities for improving liveability for local communities,” Ms Milton said.

Coffs Harbour’s Place Score online survey will be open from 2 November to early December 2018. The community will also have the opportunity to provide face-to-face feedback at special pop-up survey locations throughout this period.

Once the survey is completed, Place Score data will be reviewed and made available to the public in the New Year via Council’s website.

How to get involved: