Juliane Vogler

JULIANE VOGLER QUESTION 1 Could you please explain the meaning of the text message "has been resolved" in your work request procedure regarding the completion of the requested task, when the request has not actually been completed? RESPONSE PROVIDED BY KERRI CONTINI, DIRECTOR COMMUNITY SERVICES Thank-you Ms Vogler for your question about Council’s customer request messaging. I am responding as the director responsible for Council’s Customer Experience. Council operates a customer request system which creates a record when customers lodge a request for investigation and this then produces work orders for the staff to action. Our records show that you submitted two Customer Requests numbered RM2024/00202 and RM2024/00219 in January 2024 about issues with debris and trees blocking water flows on Upper Pinbarren Rd. Council staff did attend the site in response to your requests and conducted works to clean the front of the pipes and remove debris. After this was complete, the staff signed off on the system work order as complete because they had cleared the debris and the water was now flowing freely. The system then automatically sent you text messages advising that the requests “had been resolved” as the staff had actioned the task and completed the work that they saw necessary at the time. You submitted further requests three weeks ago (RM2025/09299 and RM2025/00304) regarding the fallen tree. Staff have attended the site and agreed that the fallen tree is detouring water onto the road and should be considered for removal. Due to current work backlogs this has not progressed further. I acknowledge that you only received text communications in 2024 and that these messages would have been confusing and frustrating as they did not reference the tree across the waterway and indicated the matter had been resolved when it had not been from your perspective. We are reviewing our processes when responding to customer requests including improving communication with customers and ensuring system messages are meaningful. Your feedback has been helpful and I have provided it to the team doing this review. QUESTION 2 How does Noosa Council's quality control system regarding road maintenance/road repair including external companies/contractors work? RESPONSE PROVIDED BY SHAUN WALSH, DIRECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES Thankyou for your question. Upper Pinbarren Creek Road is an unsealed road of over 5kms length with multiple waterway crossings, noting Noosa Shire has approximately 200kms of unsealed road across the Shire. Over the last 3 years Noosa Shire has had significant rainfall across the shire that has caused road infrastructure failures in over 20 locations, and the weather has proven to be very problematic in term of ongoing drainage issues and road failures. The Upper Pinbarren Creek catchment is particularly volatile from flashing flooding and road damage due to steep hills and multiple waterway crossings. In terms of quality control for major repair works, such as the landslide repair work recently undertaken on the road, this work is overseen by external contracted engineers with expertise in landslides and road reconstruction. Review of the work adequacy is also assessed by Council's own engineers to ensure satisfactory outcomes. In terms of quality control for routine road surface maintenance and drainage clearing work, this work is undertaken by Council internal crews, overseen by Council's own engineers to ensure satisfactory outcomes. It is acknowledged that Council has a back log of maintenance requests on our unsealed roads and associated drains, arising from ongoing wet weather and damage, including Upper Pinbarren Creek Road. This has been compounded in recent weeks with protected industrial action by Council's outside workforce halting maintenance works. Council will attend to outstanding road maintenance and drainage tasks on Upper Pinbarren Creek Road as soon as possible, but within the constraints of available staff and maintenance budgets. Council appreciates all residents’ patience arising from ongoing poor weather and recent industrial action impacting maintenance delivery across the Shire.