Rodney Stevens

The Office of the NSW Ombudsman has provided clarification about the number of complaints received by council in its 2021 2022 annual report, revealing Clarence Valley Council CVC is not the most complained about in NSW.

On February 8, the Clarence Valley Independent reported council received ‘the ninth highest number of complaints out of the state’s 128 council’s’, which saw ‘it ranked first in the number of complaints per 100,000 population’ in the Ombudsman’s annual report.

Upon enquiry by CVC, the Ombudsman revealed the Annual Report 2021/2022 lists the actionable complaints finalised, not the total received, in 2021 and 2022 in the top 10 by number.

“Of the 46 actionable complaints about Clarence Valley Council finalised in 2021/2022: 32 complaints were finalised following assessment and without needing to take further action and 11 complaints were finalised after referral to council for more information,” the Ombudsman’s office said.

“Three complaints were finalised after some form of further action.”