Innovation as Leadership in Local Government Thursday October 9, 2014

Alpine Shire: Approx. 350 km from Melbourne 4800 sq km 92% public land 13,500 population Based in Bright

A history of trying new ideas: MECC Central (Crisisworks) - 2007 Paper elimination via iPads - 2010 Asset inspection apps - 2011 Fire notice app - 2012

2012 Joe Ratepayer

Fire and Alpine Shire

Here’s what you need to do… I want to build a house. Great! Here’s what you need to do… Council

Pre-application tasks

The problem Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) covers 94% of the shire New developments within BMO must provide Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) assessment to Council as part of a planning application Methods for undertaking a BAL assessment are generally ad-hoc and subjective Expensive

The BMO

This is what they want to do We need more information This is what I want to do We need more information

This is what they want to do We need more information We need more information We need more information We need more information This is what I want to do This is what I want to do This is what I want to do We need more information This is what I want to do We need more information

OK This is what they want to do This is what they want to do We need more information We need more information We need more information We need more information This is what I want to do This is what I want to do This is what I want to do We need more information This is what I want to do We need more information

The Idea: Automate the BAL assessment process replacing guess work with spatial data and processes Allow a Council Officer to test a number of development locations at a single site to find the best place to build Provide the applicant with standardised plans for inclusion in planning application

2014 Jo Ratepayer

Fire and Alpine Shire 2014

Here’s a new service we offer… I want to build a house. Great! Here’s a new service we offer… Council

Pre-application tasks

BAL Assessment Undertaken by a Council Officer with applicant Opportunity for engagement/education FREE

OK This is what they want to do This is what I want to do

What have we learnt?

Learning 1: Unleash your geeks - Pia Waugh

Develop vendor relationships Learning 2: Develop vendor relationships

Learning 3: Think

Learning 4: Engage end user

Learning 5: KISS

Learning 5: Every application has one purpose. If you can’t name that purpose, don’t build the app - Paul Ramsey, Boundless

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new Learning 6: Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new - Albert Einstein

Thank you