The independent survey by JW Research shows that the City of Greater Bendigo exceeds both regional and state averages on council direction by five points and residents are more than twice as likely to believe the council's performance has improved over the past year rather than deteriorated.

City of Greater Bendigo chief executive officer Craig Niemann said the results were not surprising given the “positive vibe around town”.

“Greater Bendigo is brimming with pride and confidence and this has been captured in these results,” Mr Niemann said.

Key survey findings include:

- For the third year in a row, residents have awarded the council a score of 63 for overall job performance, outpacing the regional average score of 59 and State score of 61.

- Of the core performance measures, customer service ratings are highest and have remained consistently high over the past three years – index score of 74 in 2012, 75 in 2013 and 75 in 2014.

- Beyond overall core performance measures, residents were asked to rate council performance in 21 individual service areas. Ratings are positive for the majority of services tested. High scoring service areas were arts centres, libraries, appearance of public places and cultural activities, with scores of 75 or above.

- Ratings for community consultation and advocacy are in line with regional and state averages.

But the report states there is room for improvement. Bendigo receives significantly lower ratings than state and group averages when it comes to elderly support services, while ‘managing population growth’ rates significantly below the regional average only.

Population growth is of particular concern to residents as it is rated in their top five most important service areas. Neither areas, however, rate negatively (66 – elderly support services and 59 – managing population growth).

Additionally, while while the council’s ability to make decisions in the community’s interest (index score of 78), the condition of local streets (77), town planning (75), and the maintenance of unsealed roads (73) are considered highly important, performance ratings do not reflect perceived priority. There is a 19 point gap between perceived importance and performance on all four measures.

Mr Niemann said while the results were pleasing there was always room for further improvement.

“The City performs well across the board when compared with other municipalities, but we have no plans to rest on our laurels and will always strive to do even better,” he said.

He noted the difference between what residents see as important and what they perceive as being Council’s priorities and foreshadowed that further action might be needed to better inform residents of the work Council is doing.

The survey is conducted annually and assists Council in setting its priorities. Some 400 people were interviewed between January 31 and March 11 this year. The survey is available online at www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/organisation