Feedback Key to Improvement
The Whyalla community has provided valuable feedback which Whyalla City Council will now use to continually improve its services to residents.
About 400 responses were received for council’s second annual community survey, looking at areas such as residents’ pride in the city; use of local facilities; and satisfaction with council services.
The majority of areas scored either slightly higher or similar to the first survey, with some of the key positives including (average scores out of 5; 2021 vs 2020):
- Great memories of using Whyalla’s parks, gardens, public buildings and infrastructure (3.82 vs 3.76)
- Pride in Whyalla (3.66 vs 3.5)
- Satisfaction with council services (3.39 vs 3.08)
- New businesses in Whyalla (3.21 vs 3.06)
Mayor Clare McLaughlin said it was pleasing to see an increase in people’s pride in the city and satisfaction with council’s services.
“This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication by council’s many employees to offer a high level of service to the community,” Mayor McLaughlin said.
“Despite these improvements, we recognise there is still a long way to go and are continually looking at ways to improve, hence this ongoing survey.
“One of the key changes we have already implemented is the appointment of a Customer Experience Coordinator to help increase our focus on meeting our customers’ needs.”
Several areas which received lower scores and will be targeted for improvement initiatives include:
- Feeling safe, healthy and connected to the community (3.28 vs 3.38)
- Looking after the environment (3.26 vs 3.35)
- Community engagement (3.05 vs 3.18)
“People have indicated they feel less safe and connected to health services in the community, so we will work with SAPOL, SA Health and the State Government on identifying improvements, such as continuing to build on our Crime Stoppers partnership and ensuring adequate emergency care,” Mayor McLaughlin said.
“We also significantly increased our engagement last year – particularly with the Foreshore Master Plan, which thousands of people contributed to – but we will look for new and unique ways to further engage the community this year to address this need.
“Sustainability and moving towards net zero emissions continue to be a focus and it’s clear the community would like to see us do more in this space. We will continue to champion projects such as making solar panels available to local business; pushing for green hydrogen projects to be built at Port Bonython, helping local industry’s desire to decarbonise; and continuing our push for adequate protection for our unique cuttlefish congregation.”
Mayor Clare McLaughlin thanked the hundreds of people who took the time to provide their feedback.
“Without these responses, it is very difficult to gauge whether we are meeting community needs and expectations, so this information is truly valuable to our continual improvement, which ultimately benefits the broader community,” she said.
