Bendigo’s business community has delivered a scathing assessment of the city’s elected officials, accusing councillors of “appalling performance”, a “disturbing” lack of teamwork and engaging in “kindergarten-style debates”.

The comments were made in a survey of business leaders conducted by the Bendigo Business Council in the lead-up to the October election, which chief executive officer Leah Sertori said would be of “tremendous importance” to its members.

“It’s fair to say that our members have been underwhelmed by the performance of the current council as a whole and at times particularly frustrated by the dysfunctional dynamic between councillors,” she said.

The BBC provided a number of de-identified survey responses to the Bendigo Advertiser, many of which were highly critical of the current council.

“We need to get some business and industry professionals onto council to stop the kindergarten-style debates and name calling,” one response reads.

“Perhaps councillors should be required to have qualifications at 'company director' level or at least with an understanding of how to negotiate effectively.”

The responses indicate a widespread dissatisfaction with councillors’ performance, and highlight the importance businesses place on good local governance.

“The appalling performance of the last two elected councils has stifled growth and made life difficult for any small business to grow and employ people,” another respondent wrote.

“The upcoming council election is something we have to get right.

“We need quality people to stand – not people with their own agenda or an axe to grind.”

Other survey responses cited the need for better teamwork and more support for small business and professional services.

“The lack of teamwork with our current councillors is very disturbing and obviously is a hindrance to the town,” one respondent wrote.

"Until you run a small business you don't really know how hard it is,” said another.

“Given that small business is the backbone of the local community it would be great to have a much clearer and louder message initiated by council about buying local and supporting local business.”

Almost half of the survey respondents also labelled the council’s “investment in the CBD as a strategically vital business hub” inadequate, with 45 per cent describing it as sufficient and just 3.3 per cent of respondents calling it outstanding.