The public perception of Wollongong City Council has improved dramatically since the dark days of 2008, when councillors were sacked amid the city's infamous corruption scandal.
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But, following the release of the biennial community survey results, Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery acknowledged more needed to be done, as the figures showed only two out of five residents thought their money was wisely spent.
More than 500 residents were interviewed by IRIS Research in October, with 60 per cent expressing "high satisfaction" with the council's overall performance.
Roughly a third expressed "medium satisfaction", one out of five expressed low satisfaction and only 2.8 per cent were not at all satisfied.
In contrast, only one in five residents was highly satisfied when surveyed in the wake of the 2008 corruption hearings, and just 40 per cent expressed high satisfaction in 2010.
The 71 dissatisfied residents in the latest survey thought that the council ignored the suburbs at the expense of the CBD, was poor value for money, was inefficient and unaccountable, and that maintenance of the mall had been poor.
Cr Bradbery said the results were moving in the right direction, but said the council could not "sit on [its] laurels".
"What am I most proud of? I think the coherence of the council in terms of making firm and positive decisions to put the council back onto a financially sustainable footing," he said.
Despite this, it seems the council's controversial rate hike and financial review affected people's views - with only 40 per cent of those surveyed agreeing the council had spent the community's money wisely.
This was up slightly from the previous survey's result of 36 per cent, but Cr Bradbery said it could have been better given councillors had worked hard to make the budget sustainable.
"Even though we're going in a positive direction for this, I still think people in the city need to be aware of the challenges we confront," he said.
Survey participants were also asked to name their three highest priority issues.
Unsurprisingly, parking and parking meters was a priority for more people than any other issue, with 16 per cent of respondents naming them as a key issue.
Road maintenance, footpaths and cycleways, the environment and parks, sports fields and pools were also in the top five priorities for residents.
Cr Bradbery said the council would address a number of these issues in the next budget.
Wollongong Council’s Community Scorecard
- 503 people were surveyed.
- 58.7per cent agreed they trusted Wollongong council.
- 95per cent said protection of the environment was of high importance, with 54per cent highly satisfied with the council’s performance in this area.
- 84per cent said parking in the city was of high importance, while only one in five were highly satisfied with the council’s performance.
- 79per cent said domestic animal control was of high importance, with 43per cent highly satisfied with the council’s performance.
- 72per cent said development controls in the city were of high importance, but only a third were highly satisfied with the council in this area.
- 40.6per cent said they or a family member attended Wollongong’s Australia Day celebrations.