Ipswich City Council
Improving local government compliance
To ensure building structures remain compliant, Ipswich City Council transforms its physical on-site inspections into digital with Nearmap.
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“Nearmap helps us through most of the compliance process and we don’t need to leave the office to start our investigations.”
Peter BartleyDevelopment Compliance Officer at City of IpswichSeeing Truth on the Ground
The City of Ipswich local government council deals within hundreds of complaints ranging from improper land use to unlawful structures spanning across an area of 1,000 square kilometres. Using Nearmap, the council has been able to conduct digital remote investigations to ensure compliance on a larger scale.
Monitoring Land Usage Inconsistencies
Unapproved developments are a common occurrence. The degree of difference between what has been approved by the council and what is actually built can vary significantly. In one instance, a factory turned out to be 1,021 square metres bigger than what had been approved.
With the high volume of property complaints as well as the added complexity of lockdowns from Covid-19, physical on-site inspections are simply impractical.
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More Than Meets the Eye
The City of Ipswich is using Nearmap to gather evidence efficiently and to help minimize the risk of going on-site. As opposed to satellite imagery that has updates few and far between, regularly updated Nearmap aerial imagery illustrates change over time – complete with date stamps.
In-built measurement tools within Nearmap are used to assess if structures are large enough to warrant approval or to measure the proximity of structures to the surrounding boundaries.
Oblique imagery is also useful to view buildings from different angles. This has proven to be very helpful in identifying additional property characteristics such as plumbing or windows.
Monitor and plan remotely
With continually refreshed imagery of assets and project sites, there are no surprises – just deep insights to inform your decisions and underpin your planning.