Central Coast Council named most complained about in 2016/17
The State Government has released its annual whinge-fest about local councils, with Central Coast Council topping the list. But council says the numbers are quite low for the size of the population.
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CENTRAL Coast Council has topped the list of the most complained about council in NSW in 2016/17.
However the council has come out in defence, saying the numbers are quite low compared to the population of the region.
The Office of Local Government (OLG) released its annual council complaints statistics for 2016/17. Central Coast Council headed the list with 32 complaints, two behind Georges River with 30 complaints.
A spokeswoman from the council said Central Coast Council formed in May 2016, with the amalgamation of Wyong and Gosford, and represents more than 335,000 residents.
“Per head of population the percentage of complaints is quite low at .00096 per cent as compared to other councils, including Georges River Council .019 per cent and Port Stephens .03 per cent,” she said.
“These complaints fall into the period of administration of council, at a time when council and the community were adapting to amalgamation.
“As council does not receive a copy of these complaints, complaints may have been from people dissatisfied with outcomes of complaints previously made to the two former councils and may have been duplicated.”
This comes as complaints dropped by nearly a half, with the State Government cracking down on “rogue councils” and working to “strengthen the integrity of local government”.
The complaint statistics revealed 811 complaints were received by the OLG against 120 councils across NSW, a 44 per cent reduction from the previous year.
Alleged misconduct was the subject of 19.7 per cent of the total number of complaints, followed by governance matters (12.1 per cent), financial management (10.9 per cent), land use planning and development (10.9 per cent), and enforcement and regulatory powers (7.5
per cent).
“Ratepayers have a right to expect their local council will be serving their best interests and these complaint statistics help identify areas in need of improvement,” NSW Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton said.
The council spokeswoman said council takes all complaints seriously, with an internal Ombudsman’s officer who deals with all complaints and a Complaint and Feedback Management Policy.
She said the complaint statistics refer to letters and complaints sent to the OLG and the Minister’s office.
“The complaints have not, to council’s knowledge, been referred back to council for further action. Council is unaware of the details and therefore cannot comment,” she said.
Ms Upton said the Government had introduced tough integrity measures to make sure people can have confidence in the people they elect to represent them.
The integrity measures include requiring council election candidates to disclose if they are a property developer, banning people from public office if they have been convicted of certain offences, and forcing councillors to hand over any financial benefit derived from a pecuniary interest.
In 2007/08, Gosford City Council was the most complained about with 37 grievances recorded by the OLG. At the time, former Gosford City Council Mayor Chris Holstein said the complaints were “trivial” and had not progressed to full investigation.