Surveys Reveal Positive Community Outlook

Figures from Coffs Harbour City Council’s latest Customer Satisfaction Survey and the newly-released Community Wellbeing Survey reveal that 96% and 97% of residents respectively rate the quality of life locally as being high to excellent.

A total of 82% of residents interviewed for the Customer Satisfaction Survey were at least somewhat satisfied with the performance of Council in the last 12 months and 69% feel they have the opportunity to provide feedback on issues that matter.

The top reasons given for overall satisfaction being Council’s level of communication with the community, waste and recycling, enforcement of local building regulations and economic development.

The Community Wellbeing Survey also showed that 90 percent of locals were proud of the region and 82% feel they are part of the community.

Lifeguard services remain highly important to the community and continue to come out very well in terms of satisfaction ratings. Up to 74% of residents think the streets, parks and reserves are clean, attractive and welcoming.

Seventy percent of residents use walking and cycling paths through the coastal and hinterland reserves and 96% report being satisfied with the tracks.

The highest priority issues for the community are maintaining and improving roads and general town maintenance. They also identified completion of the promised bypass as a priority, but that is a NSW Government responsibility.

Residents also appeared to be more satisfied with infrastructure in the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area when compared with averages in other regions. For example, ‘maintenance of sealed roads’, ‘maintenance of unsealed roads’, ‘footpaths and cycleways’, ‘maintenance of public toilets’ and ‘sewerage’ all demonstrated higher satisfaction scores when measured against regional benchmark norms.

Interestingly, the 18-34 age group demonstrated the highest level of satisfaction across age groups, and those who have lived in the area for 10 years or less were significantly more satisfied than residents who have lived in the area for over 10 years.

Both surveys are carried out every two years. Each survey is undertaken by an independent contractor that carries out random landline and mobile phone interviews with a statistically representative proportion of the population.

The 2020 Customer Satisfaction Survey was noted by Councillors in August this year and the Community Wellbeing Survey noted at the Council Meeting of 12 November 2020.

Both surveys can be found on Council’s website.