MARCH 2021 Update: SURVEY RESULTS AVAILABLE!
In a globalised world, it is important that the voice of local communities is heard. AIDA’s 2020 Community Survey, conducted during the last quarter of 2020, was designed to gauge our community’s opinions on a range of key issues that are important to the future of our coastal townships. AIDA is pleased to now make the results of this survey widely available (scroll down for links).
We believe it is vital to know our community’s views on its built and natural environment, its facilities, its economy, what it loves and enjoys, what are perceived as future challenges and how they might be confronted, so that this knowledge can be used to take actions to protect and preserve what is most valued about our area and to help design a resilient future forthis place we love.
This year’s community attitude survey adds to the longitudinal data AIDA collected in 1983, 1990, 1999 and 2015. This year we added some new questions and discontinued a few questions that we thought had become redundant. This allowed space for community members to reflect on the implications of the focus on the Great Ocean Road with the creation of the new Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority and the Covid pandemic. (The full longitudinal survey data set is included on page 24 of this report, and a PDF of all responses can be accessed here.)
During this survey, we were particularly interested in hearing from people in the community who were not AIDA members but who wished to have their say. This was the case for more than half of the 398 respondents. The survey response rate was particularly pleasing (as too was the high positive response to the idea of surveys as a mechanism for community engagement around critical issues and decisions). What was even more pleasing was to find that the wider community’s attitudes are very much aligned with those of AIDA members, meaning there is strong support in the community to protect and preserve the low-key, coastal- village atmosphere of our townships and our environment.
This year, thanks to AIDA committee members Suzanne Cavanagh and Chris Ryan, the data has been divided into six themes so that it presents a more understandable and compelling picture of the community’s attitudes to:
Q the essential character of the district
Q the core characteristics of the community
Q the type of tourism seen as valuable
Q the types of development seen as appropriate
Q opinions on key assets
Q the trends, challenges and opportunities for our future.
Please take time to study the survey data and the emerging themes. They have been organised so you can explore it at several levels of analysis if you wish – from an overview of the key themes and their relevant questions, to the possibility of reviewing the raw data and the more than 2600 comments made by the respondents.
AIDA will share the survey widely and use the data to inform our activities and advocacy with local and state government and government agencies. Making this data fully public will ensure that other community groups will be able to use it so they can consider community views in their own activities.
Our thanks to Ian Godfrey for his analysis of the longitudinal data and to Nan McNab for designing and producing this beautiful publication of the survey results.
We thank everyone who gave their time and thoughtful responses to the survey. We also thank the many local organisations that helped us to promote the opportunity to respond to the survey.
I heartily encourage you to read the full article containing the comprehensive analysis of the survey results and the insights obtained from it, which can be obtained from the following link: AIDA_Survey_Results.
The raw data from the survey is available via AIDA 2021 Community Survey DATA output .
Charlotte Allen, AIDA President
DECEMBER 2020 Update:
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NOVEMBER 2020 Update:
Thank you to our local community who have jumped online to answer the 2020 Community Survey questions. Surveys are being completed daily by our local organisations, traders, school parents, associations, regular Aireys visitors, full and part time residents, AIDA members and non AIDA members…..BUT we want to make sure EVERYONE in Aireys Inlet and district has the opportunity to give their opinion. There’s no limit on the number of persons in the household able to respond… we recognise that not everyone has the same opinion 😃, so please ask all of your team to hit this link HERE to go to the survey and don’t forget our young folk….. the voice of our future.
FIND THE LINKS BELOW TO FORWARD THE LINK TO THE SURVEY TO YOUR FRIENDS AND TO COMPLETE YOUR OWN2020 SURVEY.
In 1983, AIDA sought the views of the community from Urquhart Bluff to Eastern View on issues that helped shape the character of its communities and the preservation of its natural environment. The survey has been conducted three times since, in 1990, 1999 and 2015. This year, the survey is extended to deal with current challenges and future opportunities.
Why do we conduct the survey?
A community voice is fundamental to the well-being and future of our district. The community’s opinions help inform the work of AIDA. They are critical for the district to effectively engage with the Surf Coast Shire Council and the State Government on policy issues. With the new Great Ocean Road and Parks Authority taking over its management responsibility of the GOR in December 2020, this is particularly important.
The Survey
This 2020 survey seeks the community’s views on a range of important issues:
- Planning
- Environmentally sensitive development
- Local business
- Environmental preservation
- Tourism
- Recreational opportunities
- Future challenges and opportunities.
NOW CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SURVEY |