The scorecard invited the community to evaluate a range of local services, facilities and programs (managed by CATALYSE®, an independent research consultancy based in Western Australia).
The baseline Markyt Community Scorecard was done in 2018 as part of the Envision 2029 consultation, and our aim was to ask you again how we've done since then. Have we improved since then? Has nothing changed? What do we still need to work on?
An online scorecard was available, as well as hard copy scorecards delivered to all ratepayer and residential post boxes using Australia Post unaddressed mail services. Scorecard invitations were emailed to all customer contacts in the Shire of Dandaragan community email list, and the Shire promoted links on its website, notice boards and social media pages.
Outcome
Thank you to everyone who responded to our request for feedback about how we are doing as a local government and with the services we provide.
Catalyse, who undertook this research for the Shire, have provided us with an analysis report that has given us a great snapshot of our the community perceives us as a Shire.
There was some great feedback for us to work with, and although there is still work to do in improving some service areas, we are now aware of where you would like us to focus on improving, and where we need to continue with the existing level of service.
We are pleased to share with you some snapshots of the outcome report:
1. The Shire of Dandaragan's overall performance has been rated 70 points out of 100 by the public. This is up 3 points from 2018, and is now 5 points above industry average, placing the Shire in 4th place among regional councils.
2. The Shire’s performance has improved across many areas, with the strongest improvements in:
- Council’s leadership
- Local roads
- Tourism and marketing
3. The top 5 priorities to address in the future are:
- Health and community services (more specialist services, a permanent female GP and aged care facility/hospice)
- Coastal area management (to address water quality in the marina and beach erosion)
- Economic development and tourism
- Responsible growth and development
- Youth services and facilities.
The positives to take from this feedback is that it aligns with what you told us during our Envision 2029 consultation and many projects are underway in addition to some positive changes to our services. Examples include current construction of the Jurien Bay Youth Precinct and Skatepark; a female GP being employed at Jurien Bay Medical Centre; installation of the Badgingarra cricket nets underway; Dandaragan BMX track design underway; partnership with, and grants provided to, Jurien Bay Regional Herbarium Group for coastal multi-weed eradication to improve local biodiversity and stability of dunal systems in Cervantes and Jurien Bay; continued advocacy of improvements and upgrades to the Jurien Bay Marina to improve water quality; and the Shire of Dandaragan Local Planning Strategy approaching finalisation once approval is received from the State Government in early 2021.
To read the full report, which breaks down the rankings and details of feedback on each service area, click on the link below: