2024 Community Scorecard paints a mixed picture
Published on 28 June 2024
More than 1000 community members have provided invaluable feedback on our town through the 2024 Community Scorecard.
The results paint the Shire of Broome as a great place to live, work, and visit while reflecting concerns about issues such as the cost of living and community safety.
The Shire undertakes a Community Scorecard process every two years, with the results used to dictate the organisation's future priorities.
The ratepayers, residents, and business owners who completed the Scorecard in May 2024 shared their thoughts on the Shire, community services in Broome, and what projects or initiatives should be a priority in the future.
A number of metrics scored less than in 2022, bringing the Shire's overall performance score around the national average.
The Broome Public Library again topped the highest-performing areas for the Shire with a 94 per cent positive rating. Festivals, events, art, cultural activities, and sports and recreation facilities also received highly favourable ratings.
The Shire has also established itself as an industry leader in tourism attractions and marketing, with a 91 per cent positive rating.
Survey recipients also praised the Shire's parks and reserves, roads and streetscapes, waste and recycling management, conservation and environment, foreshores and beaches, mosquito control, ranger services, and natural disaster management, albeit at a lower rate than two years ago.
There was also a drop in how people rated the Shire's prioritising on community and local issues.
As in previous surveys in 2020 and 2022, community safety and crime prevention, housing, and marine facilities were particular areas of community concern.
While slightly more people said they felt safe in Broome, the number who agreed with this sentiment was still less than half the national average.
Concerns about access to adequate housing and the need for safe boating facilities also remain.
Shire of Broome president Chris Mitchell thanked the 1190 people who took part in the survey, which is is one the ways the Shire informs the development of Integrated Planning and Reporting documentation as part of community engagement efforts.
"While the results of the Scorecard reflect an overall declining trend in community sentiment across local government areas nationally, they are a wake-up call," Shire President Mitchell said.
"We will work hard to address issues of concern on which the Shire has a direct influence, and we will continue to advocate for Government support for things we do not have complete control over, such as housing, crime-prevention and safe boating facilities."
Click here to read the full Community Scorecard Report