Council’s excellence in innovation recognised

Sunshine Coast Council was awarded the Excellence in Innovation category for its online Development Information Report at the recent Local Government Managers Australia Queensland gala dinner in Brisbane.

The online development tool that makes it easier and more convenient to access general town planning information for a specific site was recognised at the 2015 LGMAQ Awards for Excellence.

Sunshine Coast Planning Portfolio Councillor Christian Dickson said the award reflected the outstanding work of Council as it strived to develop new and more effective ways to deliver services to the community.

“The award recognises that Sunshine Coast Council is at the forefront of innovation in this area and reflects Council’s commitment to delivering its vision for the Sunshine Coast to be Australia’s most sustainable region—vibrant, green, diverse,” Cr Dickson said.

“Land owners and potential purchasers, real estate agents, private building certifiers, development consultants, councillors and Council staff have provided fantastic feedback about the benefits of the report.

“This new online tool makes it easier for the community and industry to use the planning scheme, delivering information that is not only simpler to use, it is available anywhere, anytime via any mobile device.

“The success of the report can be gauged by its use; it has been accessed more than 10,000 times since launching in November 2014 and is now averaging around 1000 users a week."

The report allows desktop or mobile device users to enter a property address to instantly generate a report that contains Planning Scheme information, interactive maps and other site-specific information.

Using responsive design principles, the report is easily viewable on mobile devices as well as traditional desktop PCs – all you need is an internet connection.

As the report is HTML based, the end-user can interact with each of the maps to obtain additional insights, customise the report for their purposes and access additional information through hyperlinks.

The report was developed in-house by Council staff at a cost less than $10,000, integrating with the planning scheme, PDOnline and MyMaps for convenience.