Planning and development gripes are the basis of most complaints received by NSW councils, new figures show.
The NSW government on Sunday released details of complaints received by the state's local governments, showing that a small number of areas received more than half of the grievances.
Shoalhaven City Council received the state's most complaints (75) during the 2008/09 financial year, although the figure is down from 127 the previous year.
Gosford, Tweed, Ku-ring-gai, Sydney, Wollongong, Mid-Western, Wyong, Bega and Shellharbour councils made up the remainder of the top-10 most complained about local government areas.
"It's very concerning that such a relatively small number of councils account for more than half of the 1,200 complaints received," Local Government Minister Barbara Perry said in a statement.
"We know that most councils do a good job but they need to remember at all times to work in the interests of their community."
Of the 1,200 complaints, 25 per cent were about planning and development, 15 per cent about governance and misconduct, and 11 per cent about enforcement, with conflicts of interest, customer service and mismanagement also featuring.
"Complaints can help measure community satisfaction with council decisions and can also provide a useful source of information and feedback for improving a council's services," Ms Perry said.
"It's also important to recognise that while there are a minority of councils that continue to receive large amounts of criticisms, the number of complaints against councils overall is down on last year."
During the 2007/08 financial year NSW councils received 1,450 complaints.
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