The community has a role in helping to set the strategic objectives, programme priorities and service levels to be pursued by Council.
Community engagement and/or participation refers to the broad manner in which the views, aspirations and values of the community are communicated to ensure they are effectively able to inform, influence and assist in the decision-making of Council.
A comprehensive range of community engagement processes (guided by Council’s
Community Engagement Policy) is available to assist the community to participate in Council decision-making and to be informed about Council activities.
Register on
Have Your Say Coffs Harbour and check our Public Notices section for a full view of all community engagement activities.
Community Surveys
From time to time, Council will conduct surveys of local residents to help evaluate community opinion and sentiment about specific issues. These surveys may be open to the whole community or directed towards a targeted sector of the community.
Council maintains an Online Survey Panel as a reference group to provide feedback on issues of community importance. Local residents have been recruited for the Panel during a number of random telephone polls undertaken since 2012.
With a membership of about 1,000 local residents, the Online Survey Panel is seen as a valuable engagement resource. As a randomly-selected reference group, it can generate survey findings that are statistically valid and trustworthy because they are representative of the demographic diversity of the Coffs Harbour local government area.
2016 Surveys
Customer Satisfaction
Council conducts a Customer Satisfaction Survey every two years to help ensure that it is directing its limited resources, in the most cost-effective way, to the services that the community values. The Survey findings form part of continuing discussions on developing plans and strategies to provide our community with the best possible Council outcomes.
The most recent survey was staged in May 2016. The random, telephone poll gathered responses from 504 people across a wide age and geographic range. It asked residents how important Council services were to them and how satisfied they were with the delivery of those services.
Read the report on the 2016 Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Community Wellbeing
'Wellbeing' is a general term to cover the health, happiness, and prosperity of a community.
Our Community Wellbeing Survey gauges public opinion about the quality of life in Coffs Harbour. Council surveys local residents every two years to gain feedback on a range of indicators across categories including Community Inclusiveness, Civic Leadership, Arts and Cultural Activities, Recreational and Sporting Activities, Environmental Access and Learning, and Community Spaces. It is important to note that the survey questions ask about matters that may be outside Council’s direct influence and relate more to a respondent’s personal choices and subjective opinions about Coffs Harbour.
These findings assist the development and implementation of Council programmes. They also help inform Council's "End of Term" Report which is tabled at the last meeting of an outgoing Council to assess progress achieved in the implementation of the Coffs Harbour Community Strategic Plan.
The Community Wellbeing Survey was most recently conducted in June 2016 using Council’s randomly-selected Online Survey Panel. A total of 516 responses were received (a completion rate of 49%).
Read the report on the 2016 Community Wellbeing Survey.
The next Customer Satisfaction and Community Wellbeing Surveys are due to be undertaken in mid-2018.
