CEO defends $65,000 ‘planning tool’

By Paul Dunlop
CARDINIA Shire Council spent $65,000 to gauge public opinion about a range of issues that will help it plan for life beyond the November elections.
The cost of the exercise was revealed after residents questioned shire officers at council’s 15 August meeting.
The survey, conducted for the council by independent research company Newton Wayman Chong and Associates, was defended by chief executive Don Welsh as a valuable planning tool.
But residents were concerned about how much money was spent on the survey and questioned the value of the exercise.
Cardinia Ratepayers and Residents Association (CRRA) president Gloria O’Connor and local residents Diane Henderson and Heather Shallard sought answers on the survey during public question time at the meeting, and Pakenham Ward councillor Bill Ronald also raised the issue.
Mrs Henderson questioned whether ratepayers’ funds should have been spent.
She suggested such a survey could have been included in council’s Cardinia Connect magazine to reach residents and ratepayers more economically.
“Should our money be spent on such projects?” she asked.
Mrs Shallard said she had been among the residents surveyed over the telephone.
She said she wanted to know the cost and when residents would hear of the results.
Mrs O’Connor also asked about the cost and when the results would be made available to the public.
More than 1000 people were contacted throughout Cardinia Shire over a fourweek period.
The survey sought residents’ views on gaming machines, sporting facilities, public transport and how they found out about council activities.
Participants, who said the process took about 45 minutes, were asked what priorities the council should have for the future, including its number one priority.
Residents were also asked for their views on facilities provided for the elderly, young people and small children.
Participants described the survey as very comprehensive.
Mr Welsh said the council had set aside $80,000 for the survey in its 200506 budget, $15,000 more than it cost.
But it would be up to the new council to decide whether the results will ever be made public, he said.
Mr Welsh said the survey, conducted every three years before council elections, was a valuable planning tool that would help the incoming council set its future direction.
“The Local Government Act requires that within six months of being elected, the council must finalise its council plan,” Mr Welsh said.
Responding to ratepayers’ concerns about cost, Mr Welsh said other councils conducted similar surveys on an annual basis, spending much more money.
He said the survey was conducted over the telephone to ensure its responses were a true reflection of community views.
People who responded to a written survey tended to have a narrow position on an issue, he said.
“The objective was to get a crosssection of the community that don’t have particular agendas,” Mr Welsh said.
“It is a valuable planning tool for council.”