Maribyrnong residents are still less satisfied with their council than the Melbourne average, despite the council bouncing back from its lowest satisfaction rating in a decade.
The 2015 annual community survey rated satisfaction levels with the council’s overall performance at an average of 6.64 out of 10 – up from 6.14 in 2014 but below the metropolitan Melbourne average of 6.81 and western region average of 6.86.
The 12th survey undertaken by Metropolis Research on behalf of the council involved face-to-face interviews with 800 randomly selected households during July and August.
“Satisfaction with the overall performance of the city of Maribyrnong improved substantially in 2015 (up 8.1 per cent), reversing much of the decline reported last year,” the survey report found.
“Despite these increases, satisfaction with the overall performance and governance and leadership of the city of Maribyrnong remains somewhat lower than the metropolitan Melbourne averages.”
The five most commonly identified issues by respondents to the survey included traffic management (18.5 per cent), car parking (18.4 per cent), cleanliness of the area (8.6 per cent), road maintenance and repairs (8.4 per cent), and safety, policing and crime (7.4 per cent).
“The issues of roads, parking, and cleanliness of the area all appear to have had a negative impact on satisfaction with council’s overall performance,” according to the report.
Satisfaction scores increased for 19 of 34 service areas, and ‘excellent’ scores (above 7.75) were recorded for garbage and recycling collection, libraries, and services for seniors and children.
But ‘poor’ satisfaction scores (below 6) went to parking enforcement, public toilets and the maintenance and cleaning of Footscray CBD. Maribyrnong residents were the most satisfied with their council in the western suburbs (7.01) and Seddon residents were unhappiest (6.02).
Respondents reported a relatively positive sense of community; they saw graffiti as a problem in Maribyrnong (up from 6.32 to 6.86) and felt the council should encourage spaces for legal graffiti artists (up from 7.40 to 7.64).
Fewer than half were aware of the council’s advocacy on the issues of trucks and freight and just under a quarter correctly identified the mayor.
