Residents encouraged to have their say on Council services

Toowoomba Regional Council will survey residents this month, asking them to rate their satisfaction with Council services and facilities.

The “Toowoomba Region Community Survey” will be administered by independent market research consultants, IRIS Research, from Monday 28 October to Friday 8 November 2019.

Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio said the survey will assess community satisfaction with Council’s performance and identify ways to enhance service delivery across the Region.

“The survey will help us improve the services and facilities we provide in our communities,” Mayor Antonio said. 

“Our services range from maintaining road networks and collecting household waste to co-ordinating emergency and disaster response.

“We also manage several community facilities including libraries, parks and swimming pools.

“We want to hear your thoughts on the way we currently deliver services in your community and areas we should focus on in the future.

“This is an important opportunity to have your say and I encourage everyone to complete the survey.”

800 residents over the age of 18 years will be randomly selected to complete the survey via phone from Monday 28 October to Friday 8 November 2019. The sample will have a demographic spread across age, gender and location to ensure survey results are representative of the Region.

The broader community will also have an opportunity to complete the survey online via Council’s Your Say website or in hard copy. Hard-copy surveys will be available from customer service centres and libraries.

TRC’s Finance and Business Strategy portfolio leader, Cr Megan O'Hara Sullivan said the survey will enable Council to benchmark its performance against past TRC surveys and other councils.

“This will be the third time the Council has surveyed the community about services and facilities since 2008, Cr O’Hara Sullivan said.

“Results will be compared to the most recent community survey completed in 2017 to help determine our community’s changing needs and views.

“The 2017 survey supported the need for Council to prioritise the provision of conservation services, planning for population growth and designing and shaping towns through good urban design.

“Results also indicated that residents wanted Council to focus on upgrading public toilets, road networks and street lighting and also improving the support provided to the community.

“However, with the continuing drought conditions, it is anticipated that the community will be seeking greater understanding on Council’s forward planning for water conservation and water security measures”. 

“In response to the last survey Council has developed a strong focus and commitment to improving communication and engagement channels including trials of pop-up Customer Service Centres in Yarraman and Toowoomba, Councillor Regional Visits and the introduction of a regional engagement map.

“Council has also developed a strong focus and commitment on allocating funding to particular infrastructure priority areas in response to feedback from the community survey.

“The 2019-20 budget includes $60.1 million for roads, footpaths, bikeways and drainage and $28.2 million for water projects.

“The budget also includes $13.95m for planning and development projects including the Toowoomba Regional Planning Scheme and the Local Government Infrastructure Plan (LGIP). These plans cater for population and employment growth and underpin Council’s position on land use, settlement patterns and infrastructure-related policies.”

Survey responses will be confidential and Council will not have access to individual feedback.

The results of the phone survey will be available via the Council website and BOLD magazine during early 2020.

For more information on the Toowoomba Region Community Survey, please visit http://yoursay.tr.qld.gov.au/trsurvey, call Council on 131 872 and quote Toowoomba Region Community Survey or email [email protected].