Special Rate Variation Community Engagement Report - Shoalhaven City Council

other services. In addition to its services and facilities, Council’s overall responsibilities, such
as creating job opportunities and community engagement were found useful by the residents.
Among the facilities that are provided by Shoalhaven City Council, parks, playgrounds and
reserves were rated the most useful. Residents found the condition of the pools, parks and
reserves good. The condition of footpaths, roads and bridges was rated as moderate.
In addition to performance analysis that details the individual usefulness of services and
facilities, a regression based path model has been built to obtain insights to be used in
designing service and facility management strategies to generate community support for a
rate increase.
As discussed earlier, regression analysis showed the significant effects of some rational
motivations related to Council’s responsibilities and emotional aspects related to Shoalhaven
City’s future vision on resident support for rates increase. However, it was also important to
identify the role that effective management of services and facilities play in motivating
residents to support a rate increase. Path analysis showed how efficient service provision
affects resident’s perceptions towards Council’s responsibilities and expectations for
Shoalhaven’s vision that will lead to higher support for a rates increase.
Results show that, although effective service provision does not have a direct impact on
community support, it becomes significant once Council’s responsibilities and Shoalhaven’s
future vision is recognised by the community. In other words, Council’s responsibilities and
Shoalhaven’s vision are confirmed as mediating factors between services and community
support.
Detailed analysis has indicated that as Council provides more effective direct, indirect and
especially administration services, the community’s perceptions increases on the importance
of Council’s role and responsibilities, which will lead to higher support for a rates increase.
Similarly, a more effective direct and administration services provision will lead to a clearer
vision for Shoalhaven’s future vision. These results show that, if the Council’s
responsibilities and Shoalhaven’s vision are effectively communicated, provision of direct
and administration services becomes a strong factor generating community support for a rates
increase.
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