Clarence Valley Council has earned the unenviable title of the most complained about council per 100,000 residents out of 128 councils in NSW.
NSW Ombudsman Paul Miller recently released his annual report for 2021/2022 which showed despite Clarence Valley Council (CVC) receiving the ninth highest number of complaints out of the state’s 128 councils, it ranked first in the number of complaints per 100,000 population.
In fact, both CVC and the Mid-Coast councils with populations of 51,730 and 94,395 respectively had higher rates of complaint than larger Sydney councils.
CVC received a total of 46 complaints in 2021/2022, which equates to 89 complaints per 100,000 residents, followed by Mid-Coast with 60 complaints, or 64 complaints per 100,000 people.
Central Coast Council, which received the highest number of complaints overall with 158, was the next closest per 100,000 with 46 complaints.
Common complaints received by the Ombudsman included standards of customer service, complaint-handling processes, enforcement actions, charges and fees and discretionary council decisions.
The Ombudsman said Covid-19 lockdowns had led to a backlog in council investigations.
“There is an ongoing impact of backlogs, including slipping customer service standards, delays in responding to complainants, and delays in responding to our preliminary inquiries,” the Ombudsman said.
Over the same period, the NSW Ombudsman recorded 2405 complaints against councils compared to 5746 complaints about the state government.
A Local Government NSW spokeswoman said despite serving the same population, the state’s 128 councils recorded fewer than half the number of complaints made about the state government.
The spokeswoman said the number of complaints made to the Ombudsman about councils had reduced over the past five years.
“The economic impacts of the pandemic, along with a succession of floods, bushfires and other natural disasters, have placed all three government spheres under significant financial strain,” she said.
The spokeswoman said NSW councils also had to contend with cost-shifting of about $1 billion a year, constraints on increasing council rates and applying for grant funding that she said was outdated.
“Councils are squeezed from both ends and yet somehow have continued to do more with less and less,” she said.
Clarence Valley Council was contacted for comment but did not respond before deadline.
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 8 February 2023.
