THE CITY of Greater Bendigo has been urged to improve its consultation and engagement performance after a low score in the latest satisfaction survey.
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An independent survey of residents has warned the council's engagement scores had dropped "significantly" since last year.
"It is council's lowest performing service area," pollsters at JWS Research said.
The annual survey has run since 1998.
Ratepayers have also savaged the council for its handling of sealed local roads.
Pollsters said it was the council's lowest ever rating on a topic it has consistently performed well in.
"Council should seek to address this decline before it becomes more pronounced," they said.
The survey tracks a wide range of council services.
Four-hundred-and-one members of the public rated Greater Bendigo at 57 out of 100 for overall performance, two points behind both the statewide average and median for regional centres.
That is higher than the 52 scored in 2016 but not as high as the 63 seen in 2014.
Greater Bendigo's plummeting scores for local roads and consultation have been offset by its handling of waste management, pollsters found.
The council also boasted strong results for the way it handled sealed roads. Almost two thirds of people who had sought out customer service said they had a positive experience.
Greater Bendigo will use the results to better its performance, chief executive Craig Niemann said.
"Even though the telephone sample survey is very small and only reaches 100 people each quarter, the City is always seeking to improve the way we serve the community and these results track community perceptions about our services," he said.
Mr Niemann noted the low community engagement scores and said they were a top priority.
"To further enhance community consultation, the City launched a new engagement platform Let's Talk Greater Bendigo in February 2021 which continues to be very successful, attracting 53,000 visits to the site to date and community feedback on 56 important projects," he said.
The council also runs listening posts, social media, digital newsletters, media releases and the free GB Magazine, Mr Niemann said.
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