Partnership builds online recreational resource

Glen Eira City Council’s Recreation Services, in metropolitan Melbourne, faced the difficulty of how to effectively promote the municipality’s recreation opportunities to residents and visitors.

With 67 parks, 45 sports ovals, 115 sports clubs, 49 playgrounds, not to mention the many sports facilities and a large number of places of interest, it was acknowledged that the volume of information to promote these could easily fill a telephone book.

The solution was an online leisure guide available on Council’s website for residents and visitors to the city.

The guide needed to be user friendly and provide up to date information on parks. The five key areas of the leisure guide include points of interest, park search facilities, an interactive map, dog walking information and maps and park information.

Glen Eira City Council worked in partnership with final year computing students from Monash University to develop an interactive online leisure guide. The project was developed simultaneously with Council’s leisure guide publication ‘Out & About’.

The students integrated the designs developed for the Out & About brochure ensuring a common corporate style.

Residents and visitors to the City of Glen Eira are now able to access an up to date online leisure guide.

Glen Eira’s Recreation Development Coordinator, Byron Douglas believes this project sets the benchmark for the development and presentation of Local Government online leisure guides.

Council’s Information Technology Department liased with the Monash students to provide a test facility and ensure that the final product operated on Council’s website.

For further information contact Byron Douglas, Recreation Development Coordinator, telephone (03) 9524 3372.