Cork County Council has developed a fully accessible planning enquiry system that provides both mapping of planning applications in the county and information on these applications using Geographic Information Systems browser technology. This is the first example of the accessible use of web-GIS technology in Ireland. This public accessible planning enquiry system is part of a larger integrated solution for the processing of planning applications by Cork County Council that has been rolled out to staff throughout the organisation. This integrated suite of planning systems uniquely bridges the gap between the internal providers of information – council staff – and the external consumer – the public. The Planning Enquiry and Analysis System streamlines the planning process with technology by providing a multi-user and multi-site system for planning application registration and a single accessible portal for enquiries into and analysis of this information. This portal is provided both to local authority staff and through a fully accessible public interface on the Cork County Council website.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The ICT department in Cork County Council recognised the need to provide an integrated planning solution to assist the planning process using technology and to provide a portal for access to planning information within the authority and for the public. The implementation approach used a combination of the Microsoft Solutions Framework methodology and customised software development procedures developed within Cork County Council. Using this model a business process management group was established within the Council to identify with the third party developer the requirements for the system. A user management group was identified to work on the User Acceptance testing of the system and also to coordinate training within the customer department. Staff from the Development Management Department were intimately involved in the development and implementation of the system through the project lifecycle, ensuring that ownership of the system was readliy transferred to them when the project was finished. The Planning Enquiry and Analysis System was developed by Cork County Council with 1Spatial Ireland. Since its implementation in Cork County Council, the solution has been rolled out to 8 other local authorities in Ireland.

Technology solution

A browser based solution for the capture, analysis and dissemination of planning application information was chosen as the most appropriate on which to build the suite of systems. It was critical that a multi-user and multi-site system could be provided to allow the planning application registration process to happen quickly and simultaneously at each location. A browser-based interface for planning digitising developed with Kildare County Council is both flexible and scalable to allow additional users in multiple locations to carry out this activity if necessary. As a result there is no backlog in the registration process anymore. Cork County Council’s Planning Enquiry and Analysis system represents a unique example of how technology can be used to overcome infrastructural and accessibility issues internally within a large and dispersed local authority, and externally to provide centrally managed and secure information to the citizen customer at home. The system overcomes the difficulty of providing every stakeholder in the county with a point of access to their activity in the planning process through a simple browser interface and extends this service to the citizen customer at home. Technology choice: Standards-based technology, Accessibility-compliant (minimum WAI AA)

Main results, benefits and impacts

It was critical that a multi-user and multi-site system could be provided to allow the planning application registration process to happen quickly and simultaneously at each location. The assessment process has also been streamlined. The planner can access the key information about the planning application as soon as it has been registered. The site location information is displayed with other relevant Cork County Council GIS datasets to allow the planner to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the application. Planner-specific analysis tools have also been provided by the system for report generation for the assessment process. Other internal stakeholders can also simultaneously access the information through the Planning Enquiry and Analysis System and make their input to the assessment process. Currently there are over 550 unique users of the Planning Enquiry System internally in Cork County Council. Once a member of public submits a planning application they can track its progress using the fully accessible Planning Enquiry System available from the Cork County Council website. The average number of planning applications received weekly in Cork County Council in 2007 was 300. On the Council website more than 45% of all searches and queries relate to planning information. Both the internal process and the access of information by the public needed to be streamlined. The main benefits of this system include: - Integration of business process activities: The system consolidates different parts and activities of the planning process - Centralisation of information: Data is input into and managed in a secure central location - Seamless information: Information is presented in a complete picture to the end user without any data upload or transfer delays - Accessibility of information to everyone: The data is open to the end user from a simple and direct interface that is fully accessible - Dissemination to the Public: The system is accessible to the public via the Cork County Council website

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

In 2007 Cork County Council was the first body in either the private or public sector to be awarded an excellence standard in accessibility for its website on first application. This system is an excellent example of a shared service within multiple local authorities and also a share services approach to the ongoing development of the system using common technologies. There are 8 other local authorities that now use this system. The ongoing development of the system is also shared between this group and a joint user group approach has been established to coordinate enhancements and ideas between the authorities in the future. This ensures that the burden of development costs is shared and also best practice ideas for the implementation of the system and feedback from end users is shared. Meetings of the user group are regularly held - approx. every 2 months. It provides a good networking platform for professionals in similar business areas within local authorities and has allowed a support system to develop within the group as well.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - End user involvement in the development of a business system is critical and must be encouraged throughout the development and implementation cycle. Lesson 2 - Good communication is necessary when new IT solutions and systems are being developed that effect changes in the day to day business of a section. Benefits may not be immediately realised and change can be intimidating but success will come with the right user support structures in place. Lesson 3 - Once a certain level of information is provided online the degree of direct interaction by customers with the authority changes - queries at public counters are reduced. Demand for additional online information is also increasing. It is important to build on existing implementations and develop and enhance them in line with user expectations. Scope: National