THE latest Community Satisfaction Survey results for Noosa Council’s performance has seen the ‘Very Good’ percentage of its Overall Performance Ratings drop from 16.5% in 2017 to 5.5% in 2021.

And the ‘Fair Only’ rating has increased from 24% to 31.8% in the same period.

The Market Facts survey, undertaken bi-annually by the council, surveyed 400 Noosa residents aged 18 and above, from a range of demographics including age, gender, home-ownership status, neighbourhood and work status.

The survey was carried out primarily by phone, but with more residents discontinuing landline services, 156 people were included who submitted online responses.

The figures, compiled by Market Facts in June 2021 and presented to council in October, compare those taken in 2019 and 2017, also to Local Government Association of Queensland figures based on similar surveys, but which were discontinued by LGAQ after the 2019 survey.

The report was handed down to councillors at the General Committee in the January 2021 cycle of meetings.

While Noosa Council’s ‘Very Good’ rating dropped, its ‘Good’ rating remained generally intact, scoring 55% in 2021, against 58.3% in 2019, and 54.5% in 2017. ‘Poor’ ratings barely budged across the three surveys, suggesting perhaps a general malaise in performance – much of which could be put down to the difficulties the council has encountered throughout the Covid pandemic, and the challenges each resident has encountered during Covid.

The stand-out positives in council’s performance remain with its libraries, along with its disaster and waste management practices, with percentages in the 70s and 80s.

At the other end of the scale, deficiencies in the areas of parking facilities, economic development and local employment, traffic management, community response and consulting, road maintenance and building control, which all registered in the 60s, with the exception of parking facilities, at 56.9%.