Industry
Local Government/County Councils
The Client
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal County Councils are both based in north county Dublin, with populations of approximately 194,000 and 240,000 respectively.
The Challenge
In the wake of the global economic crisis, councils are having to tighten their budgets and work more efficiently while improving services to citizens. Both councils have done precisely this by co-operating on the development of a new online submissions facility for County Development Plans.
Solution
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown along with Fingal County Council are the first councils in Ireland to make Development Plans available on a dedicated Map Viewer.
Benefits
Although it is still early days, the online submission facility has enabled both councils to improve the efficiency of their Development Plan processes. They have saved time and money through more efficient work practices, as the information now comes to them in a format that they can readily assimilate into their systems.
Summary
Both Local Authorities are keen to explore the possibility of collaborating on other future GIS projects. "In a time of economic challenge, it is good to share resources", says Colette Cronin, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. "We have built up a good relationship with Fingal County Councils and will be in a strnog position to collabortae on other GIS initiatives."
Hazel Farley, Fingal County Council concurs "It was very useful to be able to share ideas and get different perspectives on common solutions". I would definitely be keen to work on a parthership basis again".
These time savings will grow over time, as more and more people take advantage of the online services in future rounds of public consultation.
Fingal County Council estimates that it saves ten to fifteen minutes for every submission received, whree the citizen has captured the bourndary through the online submissions process.