Sour Satisfaction Survey for Inner West Council
Image: Phot: John Gillies
By MICHAEL FORNO
A survey of inner west residents has found only a moderate level of overall satisfaction with the new, forcibly created, Inner West Council.
The survey of one thousand inner west residents revealed 85% of residents were only somewhat satisfied with the council’s overall performance since its creation in early 2016.
The most damning finding of the survey was in response to the question, “How would you describe the Council’s community engagement?” To which 83 per cent of respondents rated as being between ‘good’ and ‘very poor’.
The council’s record on community engagement has been less than impressive since its first council meeting in May this year. The meeting gained attention following a spitting incident involving a resident and the Inner West administrator Richard Pearson.
A former independent councillor of Leichhardt, John Stamolis, is unsurprised by the community’s poor reception.
“Community engagement has traditionally been the strength of local government as it’s closest to the community. Now council resources for community engagement are a lot less, while the council itself is much bigger,” he said.
“The closure of Council committees after the amalgamation effectively shut down community engagement across all areas of Council. The reinstatement of some of these committees next year is very limited and will not address concerns.”
Mr Stamolis said that for the past six months residents have approached him daily, asking him to tell them what is going on in council. He said that the lack of information about their new council has come at a time when people feel uncertain.
Since the forced amalgamation of the Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville councils, community concern for local democracy has increased.
“It is not good, especially when most people didn’t want the merger in the first place and saw no reason for it.”
“Whether it’s the closure of committees or a lack of information, people are feeling disengaged with the merger process,” he said.
Mr Stamolis said there are already two levels of government, federal and state, where communities have very little input.
“Now it looks like Local Government is moving in the same direction,” he told City Hub.
“It is understandable that these concerns are already being expressed in the survey results and it needs to be addressed quickly.”
Administrator of the Inner West Council, Richard Pearson, said, “This is our first satisfaction survey and I’m happy that general satisfaction is good. However our community has made it clear that the quality and level of engagement is incredibly important to them and we will be making this an absolute priority for improvement.”
The unelected council is due to sit until the local elections in September of 2017.
