A REDLAND City Council survey has found that nearly-two thirds of locals believe there is too much development, not enough infrastructure and the district's rural character has been lost.
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Just 19 per cent of 600 people taking part in the council's community satisfaction survey said that council was doing a good job of managing growth and development - a significant drop from 35 per cent in 2017 and 53 per cent in 2014.
The research, leaked to the Redland City Bulletin, looked at performance and importance, finding that the council ranked far below average - at 58.3 per cent - in managing the city, compared with the 2017 state-wide figure of 65.7 per cent.
The direction of the council got a thumb's up from 51 per cent of respondents, the same as in 2017 but less than the 2014 figure of 66 per cent. A total of 39 per cent of people were unhappy.
A council spokesperson said that all local governments struggled with managing growth and development and did not have full control. "...Councils works under overarching state government city planning regulations and need to cater for growth," the spokesperson said. "The most recent state-wide survey of all councils, run by the LGAQ in 2017, saw town planning as the greatest issue for councils."
More than a third of respondents said that they were less positive about council's performance than two years ago. At 37 per cent the number was far higher than the 2017 state-wide figure of nine per cent.
Seven per cent of respondents said that they were more positive about the Redland City Council's performance than two years previously, compared to 21 per cent state-wide in 2017.
Participants were positive about the region with 97 per cent saying the Redlands Coast was a good place to live - the same as in 2014 and up from 93 per cent two years ago.
But more than half said the Redlands was not a better place to live than five years ago, compared to 34 per cent saying it was better. The numbers were far higher for bay island respondents with 76 per cent saying the Redlands was better than five years ago.
Nearly half said that council rates and charges were not value for money relative to the services and facilities provided. While 35 per cent said they did get value, the figure was far less than the 65 per cent in the state-wide survey.
The council spokesperson said that the surveys were done to see where council could improve.
This was the first year council had measured both performance and importance of services. Previously only performance had been measured.
The survey results meant the Redlands community had higher expectations of council than other communities state-wide.
About two-thirds of Redlands respondents were against services being cut if rates or charges were to be reduced.
Asked whether council worked effectively with the state and federal governments, 31 per cent agreed - compared to 45 per cent in 2017 and 54 per cent in 2014 - but 39 per cent were unsure.
Four months after the Redlands Coast brand marketing had been rolled out, 44.7 per cent of people had not seen or heard of the brand.
The council spokesperson said that 55 per cent awareness of the brand months from the first campaign was outstanding.
"Brands are developed over years and many businesses are adopting the brand," the spokesperson said.
Areas like libraries, waste management, sewerage, water supply, customer service and parks were ranked among the highest performers.
Among the lowest performers were town planning, parking facilities, responding to the community, traffic management, economic development and employment, financial management and community consultation.
Cycleways, sport and recreation facilities and cultural and entertainment facilities were regarded by the majority of people as nice to have, rather than important.
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