Local Government in the Riverina has developed a space age innovation to bring local mapping into the 21st century.
Launching the Riverina Eastern Regional Organisation of Councils (REROC) centralised mapping service in Wagga on 23 June, Federal Local Government Minister, Senator Ian Macdonald, said that councils in the region had banded together with financial assistance from the Federal Government, to develop a cutting edge technology solution to local planning and development issues.
The Geographic Mapping Systems, together with Global Positioning Systems will allow participating councils to obtain accurate and precise plans for virtually all areas of their activity.
Everything from parks, drainage systems and vegetation will be able to be mapped and assessed quickly.
The application of the new technologies means that activities that would once have taken weeks would now be completed in days or hours. The initiative is expected to save councils significant time and money.
Charles Sturt University is working with REROC to create a centre of expertise for Local Government. Under the arrangement, REROC members have agreed to provide and verify data for the university’s researchers at virtually no cost, while the university provides on-going support and training, also at minimal cost.
As a group, the councils were confronted with the high cost of obtaining mapping data. They saw that using specialised mapping would greatly enhance council planning functions across a wide number of areas.
The pooling of resources to provide the technological expertise of Geographical Mapping Systems will benefit smaller councils not as well equipped to absorb the costs involved.
“The breakthrough in the much needed area of Geographic Mapping System operations was made possible because of the way fifteen Local Governments in the eastern Riverina region of NSW have voluntarily got together to share resources”, Senator Macdonald said.
“These Councils have taken this region a step forward into improving the way they do things on behalf of the communities they serve.”
