How important are Council's existing services to you?

The services provided by Council are important and I value those services, however, in light of diminishing income we as a community and Council may need to accept that the level we have come to expect is unlikely to be sustained. I would suggest Council streamline service delivery and prioritise services on the basis that the least necessary be reduced.

while these services are important , I believe that many are doule ups and some of the 148 services could be reduced or incorporated into others.

The council has incresed the personnel to a level that is not sustainable, to cater for services that only a few people take part on.

40 new services and 76 expanded services in 12 years is getting out of hand. Time for the council to focus on essential services--household rubbish removal and road and footpath maintenance.

Why can't the malls and beaches be cleaned by those that litter or be funded through issuing fines to those that infringe the existing laws as parking appears to be?

I received, in my letter box this week, an envelope containing a brochure from Council. The envelope was not addressed, instead on it was written on it a short invitation to have my say on "Waverly"'s future.

Yes Council cannot even spell its own name right.

I laughed. But really I should have cried. Please excuse the cliché but this is entirely emblematic of that which is wrong with the administration of Waverley Council.

I live in Hunter Ward. In 2008 *we* returned three conservative councillors because we saw that the twenty year Labor/independent, which later became Labor/Greens coalition had created an inefficient more…

I cant understand why the private sector cant provide a lot of the services council already provides. Childcare for example is a booming industry, with more reasonable urban planning controls, developers could provide affordable housing, taxis already provide community transport, art galleries and festival coordinators provide culture and events for the community, why does each school have its own library and then council has another library?

Council can hand over the financial responsibility for these services, and this will improve its financial position allowing it to concentrate on those services council's traditionally did well - roads, rates and rubbish. We all know that as council have attempted to expand their services, they have failed in these areas.

In a previous job I was responsible for pricing in a water utility in another state and understand the complexity of trying to communicate and with the community in a meaningful way. I congratulate the council for the excellent brochure that sets out the options and for your efforts to allow the community to have their say.

From my point of view I would support some increase in rates as I do not think it is reasonable to rely on revenue from parking and fines for these services. I would like the option to vote on the services that I would more…

It is extremely important for Council to maintain and enhance these services. If Council can't do this due to lack of funds, it is unlikely that any other organisation; level of government or utility will step in to assist. Therefore our quality of life will decrease whilst other well funded council areas will improve.

These services are all very important; how you run them is important too and there are areas where there could be efficiency gains through restructuring and reducing staff numbers.

One major issue I have with Waverley Council is the lack of enforcement by parking rangers of illegal parking in residential areas.

As a local resident, I have asked the council on a number of occasions to install "No Parking" signs across my driveway to actively discourage people from from parking their cars in a manner which obstructs the safe access to my driveway. However, the council stated that they have a policy that they don't do this, even if residents offer to pay the cost of installing such signs. It is a pity that the council is not looking after the safety of residents in the local area.

It is a bit like somebody telling you about their recommended best food restaurant without telling you the actual cost involved. The food may sound very very nice but without knowing costs makes it almost impossible to decide whether it represents value for money or whether it may be within your budget.

Waverley Council could better inform by itemising the percentage of the total cost of at least the big ticket cost items to help with better informed comments.

Hidden financial information may have items with the bigest cost impact for any suggested changes.

1. Beach and pool maintenance. Bondi Icebergs more…

I’m not sure of the purpose of this question. Placed first, it seems to seek confirmation of the claims of community support for Services Plus as in ‘You asked for …”. It is closely related to a number of questions asked in the telephone Community Survey in May 2009, although respondents were not told at the time that their answers would be used as a major input to Waverley Together 2. Nor were they told that there were financial constraints looming. Check out the Waverley Together 2 Report on Integrated Engagement Strategy available from http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/your_council/plans_policies_and_publications/strategic_plan

I can’t see how the time-poor more…

I very much appreciate the Council's services, especially the rubbish clearance at the beach and on Campbell Pde, but Council may need assistance from the State Govt for funding such services as social housing.

I can't see the value of Business Awards to the community. Whilst it is nice for businesses to be recognised, I am not convinced the cost to residents is justified. Surely the best reward for a business is its commercial success, not a council award. I see it as a non-essential service that should be cut, with no consequence to the community.

These services are no doubt important, yet like any individual or business the council must operate within its budget, if it has less revenue it has to be more efficient (maybe a strange concept in local government) or cut back services. I do not support an increase in rates over inflation.

I hear this and see countless thousands being wasted on painting the roads funny colours. speed humps every fifteen yards and adding in random cycle lanes which I cannot believe makes any difference to anyone.

council, please tighten your belt like everyone else.. or do you all wear those elastic ones that allow for continuous expansion, eat as much as you like and never notice you are getting fat.

Dealing with Waverley Council is often frustrating and it does not seem to be efficient or well run. In this area we can't get a simple crossing / pedestrian refuge to make streets safer our kids to cross. Streets and public spaces are poorly maintained. We lost our regular clean up service. Yet Council spends freely on big ticket items like Winter Magic and a massive new building in Waverley Park. No wonder Council has found itself facing a financial crisis.

Many of the services above are important but the quality provided by Waverley council is not good. Eg youth services, more…

Waverley Council needs to stick to funding the basic needs of our area,such as footpath & road maintenance, household rubbish collection. We live in "user pays" society these days and the Council needs to keep up with this pattern........ there are many people that come from outside the Waverley area to use our amenities,why should we have to bear all the costs involved with the upkeep. e.g increase parking rates at the beach areas(families are not going to catch the buses as everyone would hope), increase the costs for using sporting fields and parks

Council should concentrate on planning, libraries, parks and rubbish collection

“How important are Council's existing services to you?”

Some of the existing services provided by Council are very important, others are not. Currently, all 22 main service categories cost up to $100m annually and are projected to cost an additional $125m over the next decade.

Specifically, based on the 22 main service categories the following are important for Council to provide a good, efficient, cost effective service:

• Beach and pool maintenance

• Lifeguard services

• Development and building approvals

• Library services

• Parks maintenance

• Street and mall cleaning

• Tree and green space maintenance

• Parking services

• Cemetery services

• Waste collection services

• Infrastructure asset renewal and maintenance

• Financial management and long term community planning

Some of the more…

Some more than others but I believe that quality of life is about more than garbage collection and road/footpath maintenance.

I am not persuaded that the council operates as efficiently as it could, nor that it's priorities are necessarily onces I share.

At the same time I am not so naive as to believe that the budget shortfalls can be met through efficiency measures alone. While critics are always ready to call for lower taxes and smaller government, the reality of democratically elected government is that the necessary cuts are never achieved. Instead we suffer an inexorable decline in the quality of our common assets and service delivery.

I find it amazing that residents in one of the county's wealthiest local government areas, who have enjoyed massive increases in the values of their properties over the past decade, should be unwilling to accept the proposed, relatively modest rate increases.

“How important are Council's existing services to you? “

Existing services provided by Council that fall into the ‘roads and rubbish’ categories are very important. Of councils $100m pa spending about $50m is spent on these essential ‘roads and rubbish’ services.

All other services outside these categories are of less importance.

The predicted existing services funding shortfall of $125m should be met by cutting some of or all of these less important services;

• Services for the aged, youth, Indigenous groups, multicultural groups and the disabled

• Child care and family support services

• Arts, cultural and volunteering programs

• Social and affordable housing services

• Management of major places, malls and villages

• Environmental management

• Emergency management services

• Events and festivals management

• Recreation and active living

• Traffic and transport management

Services are good of course but I would like services cut instead of a big rate rise.