External survey feedback

In April 2023, the Connected Communities team surveyed the community on council's engagement practices (156 respondents). At the same time, the Connected Communities team conducted another community survey on community satisfaction with council services (400 respondents).

As part of the Operational Plan 20222023, the PRE team were required to conduct a community survey on communication practices. Instead of initiating another survey simultaneously with the two surveys from Connected Communities, the PRE team decided to piggyback off Connected Communities surveys by adding questions directly related to communications

The questions asked were:

How do you prefer to receive information? (check all that apply to certain topics)

Channels

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

SMS

Council's online newsletter

Local newspaper online Newsletter in my mail box Broadcast (TV ads and radio)

Not at all

Topics

What's happening in my local area

Severe weather alerts

Road closures and public works alerts

Art Gallery exhibits, library information and events

Community events

Sports and recreation information

Changes to council business and reporting

Tourism news and projects

Youth events and projects

Environmental projects and events

Community engagement opportunities i e surveys, community consultations, community reference groups

Please rate the following about council's communication with you (poor, fair, average, good, excellent)

The quality of the communication I receive from council about community programs is

The quality of the communications I receive about council matters is...

The reporting of important local issues to residents by council is

The accuracy of information provided by council is...

The quality of the communications I receive about engagement opportunities is

How would you rate council's performance in sharing information, listening to feedback and responding to the community?

Being kept up to date with what is happening in the region

The relevance of the information and communication provided

The different methods used to provide information and communication to the community

The amount of information and communication provided

The range of topics residents have the opportunity have their say about

The responsiveness of council to community feedback

The transparency in what council shares with the community

In analysing the results from both surveys, the following was concluded:

The quality of communications that council provides to the community is rated fairly low, with minimal respondents rating communications as excellent

With the above being concluded, the PRE team are unsure what quantifies as 'quality information' Is it spelling and grammar, length, or frequency? This is something worth discussing further

There has been a slight decrease in the public's perception of the quality of council's communications in the following areas:

Community programs

Council matters

Reporting on important issues

Accuracy of information

Perception of council's performance of communication has declined in Blackwater

Social media (facebook, Twitter and Instagram) are the most popular methods for all public communication methods except for SMS regarding severe weather events

Currently, we don't use SMS to communicate with the public This is a topic worth discussing for the next financial year, especially regarding severe weather events, road closures, water main breaks etc.

Facebook is the most preferred communication channel Council's online e-newsletter was the second most popular method of receiving information

'I would like items in the online newsletter to be more "Facebook friendly" to make them more visible when shared on social media in local community groups. '

'Follow up and closing the loop is important.'

Ready to launch for 2023 dog registrations is the 'Responsible Animal Management' or 'RAMMY' campaign which includes printed collateral, social media advertising, an animated video, school presentations with activity book and a custom mascot.

The team has worked hard this year to make the current public website more responsive and error-free.

Led by Steve Chivers and assisted by Kloe Ledwy, the project started with data and removing broken links. In one months time, the team removed over 800 broken links, 100 broken images and 400 potential misspellings Our quality assurance went from 81% and is now 100%

After unsatisfactory service from the web development agency 'Lamb', we hired a new agency 'Vandalist'