General News
2 August, 2023
Honeymoon is over
Horsham Rural City Council has lost its way – according to an independent survey of local government – and been advised it must act swiftly to halt an alarming decline in community satisfaction. The past year has been seriously damaging for...
Horsham Rural City Council has lost its way – according to an independent survey of local government – and been advised it must act swiftly to halt an alarming decline in community satisfaction.
The past year has been seriously damaging for HRCC's reputation, with a marked breakdown in the relationship between council and the people it serves, according to the survey.
Residents are growing increasingly dissatisfied with council, registering a slump in approval across all core categories that were measured.
Over the past year, every indicator has declined – from waste management to customer service, and from community consultation to value for money.
As a result, "overall performance" has dropped by almost 30 per cent.
The worst result of all the core measures – "overall council direction" – plummeted by a disastrous 38 per cent.
This has not always been the case.
Overall council performance and direction leapt across the board following the November 2020 election, when all but one of the seven sitting councillors made way for newcomers.
That honeymoon period continued through 2021-22, with only minor slips in a handful of categories.
But the survey results demonstrate unequivocally that this past year has been a shocker for councillors, management and staff.
"The 2023 result is in stark contrast to the positive pattern of performance improvement evident over the last two years," JWS Research acknowledged.
"Perceptions of council's overall performance have declined significantly, reverting to the low point recorded in 2020 and thus losing all of the gains achieved in 2021 and 2022."
With the exception of waste management – overhauled since April when a four-bin system was introduced – all measures are "significantly lower" than the regional centres group and statewide averages.
The condition of sealed local roads was singled out as requiring "extra attention" after registering the lowest ratings on record, a fall of almost 30 per cent.
The Community Satisfaction Survey was conducted by JWS Research under the guidance of Local Government Victoria.
A total of 400 residents were randomly selected for phone interview, in an effort to reflect the rural city's overall profile.
Of those respondents, residents of rural areas and those aged 50-64 rated council performance lowest on nearly all service areas.
"Attention should be paid to these groups over the coming year," JWS Research noted.
Highlighting a need to "abate declines and rebuild" - in its summary of "focus areas" for the next 12 months - researchers pulled no punches in their overview.
"Council direction has declined the most of all measures... reinforcing that the situation may get worse if not attended to proactively," the survey said.
Council was briefed on the survey results on July 3.
It noted that many of the roads referred to in the responses were in fact not managed by HRCC, but by Regional Roads Victoria, and that there was a need to "educate the community" in this regard.
Nevertheless, HRCC acknowledged: "There is a further reputation risk to council if the poor performance is not addressed".
In his report to Monday's council meeting, Corporate Services director Kim Hargreaves said: "Council will prepare an action plan to address the concerns raised by the community as part of its commitment to continuous improvement."
HRCC CEO Sunil Bhalla said council was "rigorously considering every response".
Read the complete survey here: https://www.hrcc.vic.gov.au/Our-Council/Governance-and-Transparency/Public-Documents/Council-Publications/Community-Satisfaction-Survey