Holroyd City Council Community Satisfaction Research Part B

Holroyd City Council Community Satisfaction Research Part B - Qualitative Research Summary Findings Prepared By: Micromex Research Date: December 2013

Background

Mapping Stated Satisfaction and Derived Importance Identifies the Community Priority Areas Key drivers revolved around ‘planning’ and ‘community input into decision making’

Core Topics Taken Into The Qualitative Research To Be Fully Explored 1. Promoting pride in the community 2. Population Growth 3. Local solutions 4. Special Rate Variation Developed in conjunction with Holroyd City Council

Methodology Focus group sessions were conducted in order to provide the Holroyd City Council Project Team with a greater understanding of the priority issues identified in the quantitative research and to explore response to the potential SRV Sample 5 sessions were conducted over 4 weeks. Sessions were held at Holroyd City Council on 24 th September, 17 th October, and 31 st October. A session was held at Allan G Ezzy Community Centre in Pemulwuy on 24 th October. Two online sessions were conducted with residents on 27 th and 28 th November. A total of 44 residents took part in these sessions, with 7 participating via online

Detailed Findings

Residents’ Thoughts About Holroyd LGA “Happy with the services provided by Council over many years” “Enjoy the heritage of the area” “Area does a great job of celebrating cultural diversity” “Like that Council is smaller and more personal” “Lucky to have a community based council that cares about the community” “Really like the trees and native-ness of the area” “Lots of amenities, very central” “Find Council to be marvellous and the area is too” “Council makes the area a nice place to live” “Like the Fairs in the streets and things at the parks to take kids to” “Rates are great for the area” “It’s great that we can contact Council personally”

Promoting Pride In The Community Residents described satisfaction with pride in the community as having three core components: Pride In The Community Cleanliness Town Centre Connection

Promoting Pride In The Community • Cleanliness of the City Residents want a clean and tidy city. The appearance needs to be welcoming to visitors. A City free of graffiti and rubbish is important to residents and will promote community pride • Town Centres Residents described the condition and state of the Town Centre as being a driving factor for having pride in the community. Residents saw the Town Centre as an opportunity area to attract visitors and draw residents to the area “Main Street is old and dirty. Too many cheap shops that display their things and make the area look dirty” “Main Street is what you see as soon as you get off the train, and it isn’t a good look” “Cyclone fencing and razor wire is not a good look and makes you feel unsafe”

Promoting Pride In The Community • Connection to Community Residents expressed a desire to connect with the community as a whole. Residents suggested that Council focus on implementing programs to bring the diverse groups of the community together as one. “There are too many segmented groups and not one as a community. Would like to see us become more ‘one’. People tend to stay in their little groups instead of interacting as a community” “Auburn Council brings all of the groups together in a big way. Celebrate diversity. Build pride on the diversity. It’s quietly done here” “Focus on welcoming immigrants to the community. Celebrate newcomers” Council is expected to help create and support community connections

Communication With Council • Residents expressed a desire for improved communication efforts from Council. Residents would like to see increases in the circulation of information from Council, as well as an improved ability for residents to be able to contact Council regarding services and facilities in the area • Residents felt that Council should adopt a comprehensive approach that to community engagement across the full gamut of mediums including: rates notices, social media, newsletters, billboards, community forums and also improved accessibility to Councillors in the community “There a lot of services in the area but people don’t know about them or where to look for things that exist” “No one knows what is going on in the community” “Councillors should be more visible, and contacting people in the community” “Social media is only one way of connecting with people” “Council needs to improve their website to make everything easy to find” Communication saliency will be the key challenge for council

Population Growth • Residents were generally concerned about the effects of population growth on the Holroyd City Council area • The main concerns related to the impact of population growth on infrastructure, especially traffic flow, public transportation and parking • Residents also expressed a concern about having enough open space and green space with the growing population and development “Infrastructure is not coping with the increase in population, it is not expanding at the same rate” “There’s a big push for public transport but there is nowhere to park near the station” “We do not have the capacity to increase roads and parking so we need to better utilise transport options that do not burden the roads and parking” “Need more public transport” “Many duplexes with single car garages but no parking for multiple family members” “There’s not enough parking consideration when doing development initiatives” “Need to ensure there is enough green space and play areas” Communication saliency will be the key challenge for council

Community Expectations • Although residents were generally satisfied with the current level of services, they indicated that some services and facilities were not meeting community expectations Parking was seen as a problem area that would only get worse with the continued development of multi story apartment blocks • Residents expressed a desire to see Council focus on the services and facilities that they felt were unavailable or in decline and see them developed and improved over time “General amenities in the area are good but deteriorating” “I don’t feel safe walking around, need more lighting or something to increase the feeling of safety in the area” “Need to improve Main Street and bring it back to life” “The area is lacking in sporting facilities/grounds” “Infrastructure is not coping with the increase in population. It is not expanding at the same rate” There was no stomach for a decline in servicing

Local Solutions • Residents don’t want to be amalgamated • They felt that Holroyd City Council would not benefit from amalgamations The general consensus was that the individual needs of each council area would be lost if handled in such a large government area “Thought that Holroyd was always better than other councils in the area because it was smaller and more personal” “Services are really good in Holroyd compared to other areas. Concerned about amalgamation as I think it will pull Holroyd down” “Holroyd is better off than other councils in the area” “Everyone will be fighting for the same pot of gold and I don’t want to live in the suburb that doesn’t get it” “In theory it should save money, but that’s in theory” “We’d get even less for our rates” “Jeopordises the needs of each council” “Each council has different needs and demographics that wouldn’t be appreciated across a larger council area” Residents want local solutions

Standard Rate Variation • Residents expressed little negativity in regards to the SRV proposal. There was a general acceptance that there was a need to pay in order to receive improved services Residents were willing to invest in the future of the community • Council needs to keep residents informed about where and how the increase in rates is being spent. Residents were happy to pay for enhanced services as long as Council maintained a transparent dialogue with the community Residents expressed a desire for a simplified summary of how current revenue is being spent and how additional revenue would benefit the community • Affordability was generally not considered an issue There was concern for those on a fixed income There was no stomach for a decline in servicing

Verbatim Response To the Proposed SRV “ I Want to see a summary of the delivery plan. Something a layman can understand” “Happy to pay whatever as long as I can see that they’re not wasting money” “No one would say that there is sufficient maintenance but people say that rates shouldn’t go up” “People need to see the improvements” “Transparency and efficiency is important” “With population growth, cost of services keeps increasing” “We want these services and realise we have to pay for them” “Reality is, you have to pay more rates for more facilities” “You have to pay for what you want”

A Final Thought

For Consideration - The Rules For Engagement Ø Whilst it is true that around half the residents don’t wish to be involved with Council, around 50% of the population who do. We estimate that approximately 5% of those residents who wish to be involved have a negative opinion of Council and their desire for engagement tends to centre around grievances. This leaves around 45% of the community who want to be involved but are missing out. It is important that Council equips these residents with the necessary tools to encourage them to take that first step 1. Educate/Invite Residents who feel properly informed and personally invited are more likely to participate 2. Confidence that their feedback will create results There is no doubt that our lives are getting busier by the day. Residents who take the time to take an interest in and get involved with Council need to be confident that their time is valued and that their opinions will be heard and taken into consideration throughout the decision making process 3. Empowerment Most residents are afraid of Council meetings. The setting is intimidating and many residents lack the confidence to speak up and get involved. We need to empower this segment of the population and encourage their attendance 4. Provide follow-up: Close the loop Getting involved indicates an interest in the process from start to finish. It is imperative to follow all forms of engagement with communication of the outcomes in order for the process to feel worthwhile Unless we change the way we approach engagement, future consultation will continue to be with the same old squeaky wheels

Contact Stuart Reeve Managing Director Ph: 02 4352 2388 Mb: 0425 207 552 E: stu@micromex. com. au