Ratepayers fork out $400,000 for new site

The council could have bought 22,000 children's books (average $18 per book) with some of the $400,000 going to the council site (Source: Jabberwocky Children's Bookshop). Photo / Supplied

Ratepayers forking out $400,000 to revamp a council website - 18 months before it ceases to exist.

North Shore City Council, which will become part of an Auckland Supercity next year, plans to launch a "refreshed" website on July 1.

Mayor Andy Williams said the work had been in the pipeline for a long time and the council's core work had to continue until transition.

"When the Royal Commission [into reform of Auckland's councils] was announced 18 months ago, we didn't just close down shop and stop doing things, we're required to continue."

North Shore was leading the field in using the internet for consents and payments, said Williams, and he'd like to see their systems transferred to the Supercity.

Although the website review had been planned since November 2007, the contract wasn't signed with Microsoft until three months ago, customer experience general manager Jeff Shaw said.

"Our brief was to carry on, do what was in our programme until we had a full understanding of the outcome of the Royal Commission."

The upgrade was prompted by complaints from councillors that the site was hard to use, and a survey of 900 residents that showed the search engine was "problematic".

"The old site had about 12,000 pages, the new site will have abut 3000 pages, so as we move into the Auckland council we'll be able to present a tidy and organised site," said Shaw.

Chairman of North Shore's Milford Residents Association, Peter Carter, said spending $400,000 on the website would be acceptable only if it can be incorporated into a Supercity site.

"If it can't be, then it's obviously a waste of money. We are moving into an electronic age, so it's a matter of asking if this system can be transferred for the Supercity."

The council is also drawing up a new communications plan to improve consultation.

Communications manager Rob Pitney said the internal project had no specific budget and had been "on the backburner" since the Royal Commission's report was released.

The work was originally intended to help the council consult better on its 10-year plan - which is almost finished. But finance and strategy committee chairman Grant Gillon said none of the work would be wasted.

Findings could be used to improve the way the council communicated with residents about Supercity plans. And the website upgrade would save money because fewer people would need to call or visit council offices.

Gillon said all planned projects were reviewed after the Supercity announcement to consider whether they would "help transition to and be useful for the Auckland Council", or were so well advanced that it was sensible to complete the work. "The communications strategy and web refresh met both these tests," he said.

The money did not have to be approved by councillors because it came from allocated budgets.

heather.mccracken@heraldonsunday.co.nz