Satisfaction with Warrnambool council takes a 'severe' hit in survey

Divisive and emotive issues such as the decision to close the Warrnambool saleyards and investigations into the possible relocation of the art gallery to Cannon Hill are being blamed for the drop.

The annual community satisfaction survey data is included in the agenda for Monday night's council meeting.

The community's perception of the direction the council was heading was the steepest decline, dropping 27 per cent.

Community consultation dropped 18 per cent, sealed local roads were down 17 per cent and overall council performance fell 16 per cent.

This year's overall satisfaction score of 52 is not as low as in 2020, when it fell sharply from 56 to 42. But it was a big drop from last year's high of 62.

The council has been clawing its way back into positive territory since 2020 when the city took a major tumble in the survey, with satisfaction with the council direction dropping from 50 to 32.

This year the council's score for council's direction dropped to 46 from a high of 63 in 2022.

It wasn't all bad news.

In some non-core measures the council scored above the state average including waste management, art centres and libraries, appearance of public areas, emergency and disaster management, enforcement of local laws, business/community development/tourism, environmental sustainability, business and community development, population growth, traffic management, local streets and footpaths, planning and building permits.

"The survey outcomes are influenced not only by council performance but frequently by political, planning and/or infrastructure issues topical at the time of the survey," the agenda says.

"This year's results saw satisfaction levels fall several points in each core measure.

"While the declines from the unusually high scores of 2022 were significant, the results were in most cases within about 10 per cent of regional and state averages.

"Typically, survey results are strongly influenced by issues that are topical at around the time the survey is being conducted."

During January and March, when the survey was being carried out, the council was in the process of closing the South-West Victorian Livestock Exchange and investigating the viability of constructing a new art gallery building at Cannon Hill.

"While some of the declines in 2023 have been severe, most results are reasonably close to statewide and regional averages," the agenda says.

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