A total of 823 complaints were received by the Office of Local Government about NSW councils in 2017/18, compared to 811 lodged the previous year.

Kempsey Shire Council was the most complained about council in 2017-18 with 35 complaints, followed by Central Coast council (33 complaints), Blue Mountains council (31), Northern Beaches council (31), and City of Sydney council (25).

Wollongong City Council was way down the list with seven complaints, while there were eight complaints about Kiama council and just three for Shellharbour.

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However a few councils in neighbouring regions made the top 20 – with 18 complaints against Eurobodalla council, 15 against Wingecarribee and 13 for Shoalhaven City Council.

Matters that were subject for complaint in 2017/18 included customer service, financial management and councils’ enforcement and regulatory powers. The nature of complaints for specific councils was not available.

Meantime, for the second year in a row, council misconduct allegations topped the list of complaints across the state. Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton said this highlighted the need for the new codes of conduct released earlier this year.

“The community rightfully expects their local council to be meeting their expectations and these complaint statistics highlight where councils are potentially letting down their residents,” Ms Upton said.

“The Office of Local Government assesses each complaint, uses the information to help improve the performance of councils, and where necessary takes other appropriate regulatory action.”

The most complained about councils in 2018