Satisfaction with the shire also rates better than the state average, except when it comes to one of Corangamite’s major bugbears – the state of its road network.

Chief executive officer Andrew Mason said an additional question was added to the survey this year to ask what roads were of most concern, revealing about 85 per cent were not in Corangamite’s control.

“That data has highlighted the fact that the majority of roads identified by residents were, in fact, the responsibility of VicRoads and the state government,” he said.

“We continue to call on the state government to increase their maintenance in the road network.”

The VicRoads-managed roads of most concern included the Camperdown-Lismore Road, Foxhow Road and Cobden-Port Campbell Road.

The Castle Carey Road was the shire-controlled road of most concern to respondents.

Councillor Neil Trotter said there were “no surprises” in the results, but they highlighted the need for the shire to become even more active in lobbying for better roads.

“It just re-emphasised the fact that the general community don’t really realise the number of arterial roads in the shire that are not ours,” he said.

“Politically-wise we have to be a lot more active in advocating for a change in the funding model at a federal level so that greater funds are coming back to regional roads.”

Mr Mason said the shire’s drop in approval across a variety of areas such as community consultation, advocacy and overall council direction was in line with a statewide trend.

“While there has been a decline in a number of areas, I think this is generally reflective of a broader decline across the sector rather than Corangamite Shire specifically,” he said.

In the annual survey of 400 residents, Corangamite Shire rated best for its councillors, aged support services, customer service and recreation and sporting facilities.

More than 40 per cent of respondents listed sealed road maintenance as the area in greatest need of improvement, followed by unsealed road maintenance, community consultation and communication and financial management.