Upper Hutt City Council's XPLORER
Download PDF of this case study [670 KB]
Benefits
- Greater convenience for the 60% of residents who work outside Upper Hutt
- Increased efficiency for staff who can now refer property queries to the Council website
- Better service for the public at no extra cost
Upper Hutt City Council provides online access to property information using XPLORER. The service benefits locals who can find out about rates, property values and more over the Internet.
Upper Hutt City Council has a strong customer focus and emphasis on public access to information. These principles are demonstrated in their website, where several services are brought together for visitors and residents.
About XPLORER
Since February 2003 Council-held property information has been available online using an application called XPLORER. The Upper Hutt City Council (UHCC) has taken after other councils in giving people access to land information, including aerial photographs. But the UHCC's service is unique in the functionality it provides for people. Through XPLORER - which uses GIS technology - the Council offers a fast, free, and easy way to find various local property details. The Auckland Regional Council, the Carterton District Council, and the Ministry of Economic Development (Crown Minerals) are also using XPLORER technology. A local company, EXPLORER Graphics Ltd developed XPLORER.
Background to service
Prior to the online service people visited the council and asked for a 'property packet', a paper-based file containing information on the property they were interested in. The council wanted to make it easier for people to obtain property and rates information. Significantly, 60% of Upper Hutt residents work outside the area. Workers needed to take time off to come in to the Council offices to look at records face-to-face. The online service resulted in greater convenience as well as the ability for people to find what they needed themselves, at a time that suited them. People can still come into the Council for property records if they prefer, but the XPLORER enables them to find information more easily.
Extending government information to the public
The service developed naturally as an extension to the public, from UHCC's i-Map intranet application. XPLORER is very accurate, with a 99.7% match between the cadastral information from Land Information New Zealand and property and rates information.
Increased functionality
Within XPLORER a search tool using street name and number, or rates assessment number provides quick results. Here you can find out about a property's rates, capital and land value, and area (ha). Coloured layers of infrastructural information represent water, stormwater, and sewage services on a property. You can see this information overlaid on aerial photographs once you zoom in to a particular scale. Links are provided to Quotable Value NZ, where you can pay for more detailed property reports.
XPLORER is a great service, particularly useful for people buying or renovating a house. It has also been valuable for business people including real estate agents and solicitors. The service has been incredibly popular, with 26,000 maps downloaded per month. UHCC staff noticed a reduction in the number of people seeking property information face-to-face as the online service became more widely used. Council staff now refer property enquiries to their website. This saves staff time, as well as minimising the time it takes for people to get council information.
As well as general property information, you can use XPLORER to look at the proposed UHCC District Plan. Here you can find information like residential and business zones as well as heritage features and council utilities.
Website Features
A detailed XPLORER help page explains how to use the tools on the site, as well as the tabs and layers available. Printer-friendly versions of property reports and images are available. A 'maximise map' button enlarges maps, but the help page warns that it may cause delays on slower connections. A 'reduce map' button loads images quickly.
Ease of use essential
Ease of use was very important to the UHCC and the developers, who were diligent about keeping the site lean and as fast as possible for dial-up connections. Developers also ensured that a number of browsers could support XPLORER. Where possible, the Council followed the New Zealand Government Web Guidelines to ensure accessibility. The UHCC carried out significant user and staff testing to ensure XPLORER was simple to use. One result was more user-friendly terminology instead of language that was specific to council staff.
Future Services
The UHCC plans to further develop XPLORER in two future phases, focusing on government to business service delivery. Phase 2 is planned as a subscription service for business people such as real estate agents and solicitors, including the names of property owners. A third phase will target contractors working in the field whilst using GPS technology. Contractors will be able to login to XPLORER and access information about the property they are working on, on the spot from their mobiles and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The UHCC also has further plans to digitise property information such as plans and permits.
Critical Success Factors
- Plan thoroughly
- Take small steps
- Small team working closely with EXPLORER Graphics developers/designers
- Semi-autonomous team with clear business goals
See for yourself
[ Previous ]
