Sunbury and Macedon Ranges residents are more likely to take part in maternal child and health visits than most other Victorians, but they often face lengthy waits for planning applications, a new report card of councils reveals.
Created in an effort to help ensure transparent and accountable local government for communities, the state government’s Know Your Council website shows that Macedon Ranges council is generally proactive with animal management, with 62 per cent of lost pets reclaimed compared to the state average of 54 per cent.
The cost of the council’s animal management service ($43.33 per registered pet) was lower than the state average.
Macedon Ranges council fared well in terms of governance, roads and financial performance.
But the time taken to decide planning applications was 91 days, much longer than the state average (65) and the time taken by similar councils (59).
Council chief executive Peter Johnston said this showed that working through planning issues in the municipality was a complex task.
‘‘Our planning results are reflective of our deliberate approach to work with applicants and negotiate outcomes during the application process,’’ he said. ‘‘We will continue to work closely with applicants, but at the same time we will focus on streamlining these application processes to improve the turnaround time.’’
Planning applications in Hume took an average of 97.4 days to be determined, compared with the similar-council average of 82.
Hume council chief executive Domenic Isola said having survey measures was good ‘‘to a point’’, but results could merely reflect a difference in focus or priorities.
He said the needs of what the website termed ‘‘similar’’ councils could also be quite different. But he accepted that planning delays could be reduced.
‘‘Even without knowing exactly how other councils operate, I look at that base number and say we could be doing better,’’ he said.
The website showed 11 per cent of Hume residents were considered active library users – lower than the state average of 19 per cent.
Hume’s average cost per library visit ($6.87) was also higher, but Mr Isola said this could be attributed to the innovative range of resources offered by the council’s global learning centres and its need to cater for a culturally diverse community.
