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City of Dunedin - online
Citizens Direct, supported by the web
Citizens Direct, supported by the web
Citizens can get some information from the city’s website. The most popular topics are property, events, weather and library catalogues.
Property content has stimulated increased use of the website by home buyers, real estate agents and solicitors. An enquirer could use the Dunedin City website to see all the resource consent applications that have been applied for, or granted, in a given time in a certain area. Enquirers who may want to build a house, but don’t know what they don’t know, can also get face-to-face meetings with duty planners to discuss their ideas. Later, the focus shifts to Council’s building consents process, and building inspectors. Rob Garret, GIS administrator, says 80 percent of the enquiries coming through e-government channels are related to property.
Citizens can use Dunedin City website Working with Council information to:
- find out how to make a submission on one of the many public consultations undertaken by the council, such as the draft annual plan
- notify the council of a change of ratepayer or ratepayer’s address (of particular value for library, dog licence and business relationship management)
- request a booking for a building, plumbing, drainage or health inspector
- send a Fix-o-gram to get attention to problems in their area
- learn what to do in a civil defence emergency
- find out about the Council’s administrative hierarchy, policies and bylaws, meeting agendas and minutes.
The DCC website also acts as a vehicle for encouraging economic growth in areas of film, biotechnology, engineering, call centres, forest products and rural development.
Through the Citizen Direct web page, citizens can set up a personal profile. They then have access to council-held information about them, their property and their ongoing relationship with the council.
Security for this information is provided by a user-code and password. Information available includes rate payments; dog, liquor, dangerous goods, health and building licences; building and resource consents; customer services queries; environment health; and the Dunedin special, Fix-o-gram. Other public information is also available on the site, such as a link to the New Zealand government electoral site and the Council rates book, which includes the legal description of any Dunedin property, who owns it, the land value and value of its improvements, plus other details. Visitors can zoom in on property information such as aerial photographs, roads and water pipes and other mapping information.
Roll-out of technology
The roll-out of e-government in Dunedin is ongoing. Not all staff have ready access to computers yet, and the technology and the applications continue to develop.
“E-things have also increased public expectations – particularly with timing,” says Mike Harte, manager, Information Systems, Dunedin City,
Dunedin City officials are active participants in the Local Government Online discussions, often making their experience available to other local governments. Mike Harte says e-government is not just about websites. When he advises councils, his focus is not just on technology, but also on project design, strategy, business needs, and other elements of the total picture. Issues to consider include usability, design, technical infrastructure and content management.
Mark Brunton, Dunedin’s website administrator, says more work is needed on the interface between local and national e-government initiatives. Dunedin has meanwhile built up its experience in interfacing with citizens at the local level.
Dunedin City’s Fix-o-gram service (illustrated below) is designed to give fast attention to neighbourhood problems such as
- faulty kerb
- faulty footpath
- pot-holes
- loose/protruding manhole
- loose gravel
- poor road marketing
- abandoned vehicles
- overhanging trees/shrubs
- blocked gutter/drain
- sewer leaking/water leaking
- broken rubbish bags
- litter
- traffic lights not working
- traffic signs damaged
- traffic lights not working
- traffic signs need replacing
- other
