Council’s ‘Record’ Rating Based on Just 1,204 Voices

In a media release issued today, Council declared its “highest-ever overall satisfaction rating”, based on the 2024/25 Annual Community Satisfaction Survey. The result — a score of 7.3 out of 10 — has been labelled a “resounding endorsement of Council’s performance and direction” by Wyndham Mayor Cr Mia Shaw.

But the sample behind the result is raising eyebrows.

Wyndham is home to more than 340,000 residents, yet just over 1,200 people were surveyed by Metropolis Research during door-to-door visits between November 2024 and January 2025. More than 4,500 households either refused, didn’t respond, or were not available. Despite that, Council is using the data to tout widespread satisfaction across the city.

Cr Shaw described the result as a “strong vote of confidence”, crediting it to meaningful engagement and improved governance. “This year’s results are a milestone — and a motivator,” she said. “We’re proud, but we’re not done.”

Council’s release highlights improved satisfaction in areas such as road maintenance, street trees, public toilets, town planning, and climate resilience programs, claiming many services jumped from “Poor” to “Very Good” in just one year.

But while Council is eager to promote the increase from last year’s 7.1 to this year’s 7.3, both surveys were based on nearly identical sample sizes — just over 1,200 residents. That means the so-called “improvement” reflects a shift in the views of a tiny fraction of the population. Comparing two years of limited data only highlights how narrow the feedback pool really is, raising further doubts about the legitimacy of using it to claim growing city-wide support.

Notably, Council’s media release makes no mention of how many people were actually surveyed. While it proudly announces record satisfaction scores, it omits the fact that just 1,204 residents — or roughly 1 in 280 people — participated. For a Council that claims to be committed to transparency and engagement, leaving out the size of the sample is a telling omission.

Meanwhile, on community Facebook groups, the tone is far less positive. Residents continue to express frustration over worsening traffic, overdevelopment, rising rates, poor consultation, and infrastructure that hasn’t kept pace with growth.

Ironically, the same report notes that traffic management, road conditions, and parking remain among the most commonly cited concerns from respondents — even though Council claims satisfaction has improved.

Council also boasts of “excellent” ratings for its service delivery and communication, but this too is based on the same 1,204 responses — hardly enough to draw conclusions across a city of 340,000.

While only 53 respondents said they were outright dissatisfied with Council’s overall performance, the report reveals that many of them were unhappy with multiple services — from rubbish collection and footpaths to planning and customer service. These insights are buried deep within the 240-page document.

So is 1,204 respondents enough to claim the confidence of a city of 340,000?

Critics say no — and are calling on Council to stop using selective statistics as a substitute for broader, genuine feedback.