By Charlene Gatt
CAR parking and traffic management have topped a list of resident concerns in the 2010 annual community survey.
The car parking issue went up over eight percentage points from last year to be the number one concern among residents, with respondents telling researchers there were too many cameras but not enough parking spaces.
The council has attracted controversy in the past 18 months since introducing parking cameras to Footscray’s CBD, with around 40,000 fines handed out to motorists.
To top it off, the council now has 59 paid parking machines across Footcray, covering nearly 700 parking spaces in the area.
The council has commissioned an independent review into the parking cameras, with results expected in coming months.
In other results from the annual community survey, perceptions of safety at night have plummeted to a six-year low, dropping from 6.20 (out of 10) in 2007 to 5.12.
Respondents cited drugs, alcohol, crime and violence and issues with gangs as the main reasons for feeling less safe.
Safety, policing and crime, traffic management, roads maintenance and repairs and council rates rounded out the top five issues facing the council.
The survey also found respondents were more satisfied with the council’s performance this year than in 2009 and that local libraries, weekly garbage collection and the Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre were among the council services that residents were most satisfied with.
Respondents were least impressed with the council’s handling of parking enforcement, public toilets, maintaining and cleaning Footscray’s CBD and footpath maintenance and repairs.
Less than one in five residents correctly identified Sel Sanli as this year’s mayor, while 66.9 per cent of respondents couldn’t say who led the council and 60.4 per cent of respondents experienced some form of financial stress when it came to paying their rent or mortgage.
“This year’s increase in satisfaction is good news, but there is still a lot of hard work to be done,” Mayor Sel Sanli said.
“The annual survey is a great way to keep our fingers on the pulse of community concerns and it lets us know what services they expect from us.”
The report was conducted by Metropolis Research and involved face-to-face interviews with 800 City of Maribyrnong residents.
Information from the survey is then used to set a priority list for works in the annual council budget.
