George Town Council Mayor Roger Broomhall and Member for Bass Geoff Lyons last month launched the Council’s Electronic Development Application and Building Application (eDABA) Portal to the George Town community.
Officially launching the new electronic application, Mr Lyons said the fast, affordable and reliable broadband delivered by the NBN had helped councils put residents and ratepayers ‘at the heart of local government service delivery’.
“Ultimately, this means better, more accessible and more convenient services, delivered more efficiently and with less hassle.”
George Town Council hopes the new online direct access application facility will streamline development and building applications and will enhance and add value to its customer services.
Councillor Broomhall said he was delighted with the new application.
“It is our hope that this easy to use online electronic application will bring huge benefits to our residents and builders.
“It is Council’s aim to be able to streamline our development and building applications processes.”
The eDABA portal provides for a number of mechanisms which will allow people wishing to lodge development and building applications to connect directly with Council.
The portal will enhance application services by:
- enabling Council staff to work with applicants to create valid applications
- allowing secure online document collaboration
- providing direct collection of application information
- enabling the uploading of documents
- enabling Council to correspond electronically with applicants; and
- enabling the process to be tracked by applicants.
The Council anticipates that the new ‘Live by NBN Conferencing’ capability will also benefit international and interstate developers.
Using new Digital Local Government(DLG) infrastructure and broadband connectivity, the Live by NBN Conferencing will enable Council officers to view and discuss plans and documents with applicants in real time, and assist resource sharing between Councils by reducing the need to travel.
By integrating the eDABA into existing Council processes, the Council will be able to use and link software applications together and streamline routine processes.
George Town Council General Manager Stephen Brown said the new facility would offer a number of incentives to build, expand or invest in the municipality.
“George Town is open for business and our new ‘Development Incentives’ package for developers, residents and businesses and the ‘Electronic Development and Building Application’ portal says we are open for businesses both locally and interstate.”
The new incentive initiative, a first of its kind for the municipality, is a stimulus package for residential, business, industry and employment.
Councillor Broomhall said the Council had identified a number of key strategic areas that would promote the municipality as a progressive and attractive location in which to live, work and invest.
“We are doing what we can to develop opportunities, to deliver real outcomes and to do this we need to stimulate and support new residential and commercial development, encourage the expansion of existing commercial development, and offer business incentives to existing and new businesses.
“Building on what we have, identifying and seeking opportunities to benefit the greater community, as well as providing solid governance, is paramount to this Council and the future of our growing community.”
The eDABA portal and the Council’s ‘Development Incentive’ package can be viewed at www.georgetown.tas.gov.au .
