Council website gets a facelift

CARDINIA Shire Council is upgrading its website to make it easier to navigate and more accessible.
As well as giving the site a new, fresher look, the website will have an improved site structure and a more resident-focused approach to packaging and presenting information.
Mayor Graeme Legge said the council’s website was proving to be increasingly popular with more than 40,000 individual visits per month.
Cr Legge said the upgrade was designed to ensure the website better met the needs of Cardinia Shire’s diverse and growing community. “We want to give it an updated look and feel, make it easier to find information and ensure content is relevant and accessible,” Cr Legge said.
“The site will be more interactive, easier to navigate and search, with an expanded range of information and features.”
He said residents will notice changes to the website being progressively implemented over the next few months.
Council spokesman Paul Dunlop said the cost of the redesign itself is about $6500 for the home page and subsequent sections, but the actual work in terms of upgrading, writing and repackaging content is being done in-house by council staff utilising existing resources.
“It’s taking up a lot of staff time and effort but the aim is to make the website more user-friendly and accessible for our residents — at minimal cost,” Mr Dunlop said.
“When you consider that our website gets over 40,000 hits per month and represents a virtual customer service centre in its own right, it’s vital that council maintains and upgrades its website to ensure the community gets up-to-date and easy-to-find information in what is an increasingly hi-tech world.”
If residents have any comments or ideas on what they would like to see on the council’s website, email mail@cardinia.vic .gov.au.