{"id":225394,"date":"2018-12-12T19:19:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T09:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=225394"},"modified":"2020-07-25T12:58:40","modified_gmt":"2020-07-25T02:58:40","slug":"animal-issues-still-top-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/12\/12\/animal-issues-still-top-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal Issues Still Top Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wandering livestock, barking dogs and other issues surrounding animals still top the list of customer complaints that staff at the South Burnett Regional Council’s offices receive (Photo: SBRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 12, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Complaints about animals, gripes about water supply and grumbles about roads still top the list of things residents complain about to the South Burnett Regional Council.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Mayor Keith Campbell said customer contact staff received 2874 service requests in the first five months of this financial year.<\/p>\n

Out of 40 possible categories, the most common customer request was for help with animals (815 calls).<\/p>\n

This was followed by water supply issues (579) and complaints about roads (524).<\/p>\n

Issues surrounding waste collection, building matters and trees attracted slightly more than 200 calls each, while planning matters (171) and mowing (146) also figured in the top eight causes of resident angst.<\/p>\n

When Council last disclosed its customer contact data, in July last year, it reported staff had received 14,786 requests to fix problems or carry out services between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017 – an average of 40 per day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the past five months, this number has dropped by roughly half.<\/p>\n

However, the things people need help with haven’t changed all that much.<\/p>\n

Animals (1449) were the top complaint in 2016-17, then roads (1353) and water supply (1118), with mowing (521) running a distant fourth.<\/p>\n

Roads portfolio chair Cr Gavin Jones said it was good to see roads had slipped into third place on the list, which he attributed to their steady improvement.<\/p>\n

Road complaints have fallen from an average 3.7 calls per day in 2016-17 to 3.4 daily calls between July and November 2018.<\/p>\n