MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has hired a Melbourne based social research company to conduct a “satisfaction survey” of residents.
The shire says 400 interviews will be conducted with a “representative sample of residents”.
The survey has been designed to assess the shire’s performance and identify services that need improving.
The shire’s decision to commission the survey follows two consecutive years of poor results from community satisfaction surveys of municipalities made on behalf of the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (“Shire again misses survey satisfaction” The News 21/6/23).
Results from the 2022 survey saw the shire rated at an “all-time low” followed this year as registering an overall performance score of 50, three less than in the previous survey.
In announcing the shire’s own survey to be conducted from 8 to 31 July, the mayor Cr Steve Holland said the shire was “always looking for ways to improve our services, and your feedback gives us valuable information about what matters to our residents”.
The shire says the phone and door-to-door survey will take about 15 minutes and be undertaken by representatives of Metropolis Research wearing uniforms and carrying identity cards. They will not ask to enter homes or want personal details — name, ABN or tax details, home address, phone number, email address, credit card or Eftpos card number or banking details — of residents agreeing to answer the survey’s questions.
The shire has not released details of the cost of the survey, questions that will be asked or how the “representative sample of residents” will be chosen.
It says, “only the overall survey results are shared with the shire”.
The announcement of the survey was made during a week where the shire was being criticised through various social media outlets on several subjects, including clearing fruit trees growing outside a Mount Eliza cafe; a large overhead neon sign at the intersection of Nepean Highway and Main Street, Mornington; the revamping and reduction in parking spaces at several foreshore car parks; and the trial of paid parking at Schnapper Point, Mornington, Sunnyside Beach, Mount Eliza and near Flinders pier.
Metropolis Research, the firm hired by council to conduct its survey, says it has “extensive experience helping government and public sector organisations to understand their communities and helping them to improve client satisfaction with the services they provide”.
“We have an outstanding record of designing and managing public sector research projects as well as assisting organisations to use the results of research to improve performance and satisfaction. “Our projects range from small issue-specific initiatives through to larger regional and Melbourne-wide initiatives.”
For inquiries about the survey call the shire’s customer services division on 1300 850 600.
First published in the Mornington News – 4th July 2023
