Putting plans online
Abstract
The first plans under the RMA were prepared with little use made of the Internet. Only recently has any effort has been given to putting plans onto websites, with an increasing number of RMA plans now available online. However, there is a huge disparity in the usefulness and online quality of such documents. The primary purpose of this Guidance Note is, by drawing on existing practice, to provide information on how plans can be made available online by using the principal web mediums, in ways that are efficient and effective for both Councils and plan users. Currently, while plans remain predominantly paper documents, it is best practice to put a plan online as a PDF document, supported with good indexing.
As the Internet is now a key source of information access and exchange, local authorities will need to be preparing for much greater use of web-based information to be made in the near future, as changes in technology, as well as popular demand, introduce a new web-based dimension to the plan preparation process. A secondary purpose of this Guidance Note is to overview some of the future requirements and challenges for web-based planning that will need to be addressed by local authorities.
Introduction
Get familiar with the benefits and features of online plans
This guidance note is not intended as a technical 'how-to' guide, but seeks to provide an overview of the issues involved with putting plans online, and the advantages and disadvantages of the main options, for people with limited technical understanding of the Internet.
While the technical aspects of developing and managing plans online through the Internet are best addressed by persons with appropriate expertise, planners need to be broadly familiar with the options and high level requirements to ensure that the adaptation of plans into a web-based medium effectively meets user requirements.
In being responsive to public demand and the potential value of the Internet, local authorities are increasingly providing for the electronic exchange of information through their websites. However, RMA plans (District, Regional or Combined) are typically large and/or complex documents, often under incremental change requiring frequent updates.
Thus, putting plans online may present some difficulties, particularly for those local authorities with few resources dedicated to Internet facilities. As current plans were not prepared in anticipation of being put onto the Internet, some degree of manipulating is required to adapt them into a web medium. Some careful upfront thinking about this conversion is best achieved to ensure that the online plan is in the user-friendliest medium. To date, most online plans do not make best use of the features available, and there is thus still considerable scope to improve the usability of plans currently online.
Current status of plans online in New Zealand
At present, while most regional plans are accessible online, only about half of territorial local authorities have their plans available online. A review of these plans reveals that the preferred medium is PDF (Portable Document Format, through Adobe software), although many provide introductory sections in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). HTML has only rarely been used for entire plans. Unfortunately, while PDF is the most practical means to put a plan online, little use has been made of the features available to make PDF plans more fully user friendly.
Local Government Online has a list of online District and Regional Plans.
Benefits of online plan
Current advantages
Given the importance of the Internet as a means of accessing public documents and the relative ease that plans can be converted for use on the web, there is little reason why all plans should not be made available online. Having plans online provides benefits to both local authorities and to the general public.
For councils, officers need not spend so much time in dealing with administrative work associated with faxing and printing sections of the plan, and answering general queries on the plan from people who would refer to an online plan if one were available.
Provided it is current and up-to-date, the public benefit from having ready access to a copy of RMA plans without having to incur the significant costs associated with buying and updating a hard copy: it is easier to download a plan from your computer than to travel to the nearest council office, or to wait for a plan by mail or fax. Modern plans are often large and complex documents, and have therefore become more expensive, particularly if a person only wants one part.
Extracts from an online plan can also be copied and incorporated directly into computer documents, reducing the risks of mistakes and costs (for example, when quoting sections in officer reports and evidence for Court). Furthermore, ideally, an online plan can be fully searchable, allowing people to search for specific topics, in the absence of a comprehensive index.
An online plan provides ready access to an authoritative and up-to-date document, rather than having plan users rely on being posted and incorporating updates.
However, it is important to emphasise that the purpose of putting plans online is not to achieve cost-savings, but to provide an adjunct or additional means of making plans more available and accessible.
In the near future...
Attention should soon be given to preparing the new generation of RMA plans in more useable and accessible mediums, which can be searched and used in a much more flexible manner.
A bigger challenge for local authorities will be making use of the Internet as a more powerful tool in preparing plans; in particular, its potential use as an additional mechanism for consultation during the development of a plan. Some local authorities are already exploring the wider use of their websites in disseminating information and encouraging public involvement in council initiatives and policy-making.
These developments are occurring as part of a wider global trend towards 'e-government'. For example, there are national initiatives around the world, including New Zealand (explained later), to promote the greater use of the Internet in public governance, public participation and providing easy online access to information and services.
Preparing for the second generation of plans
Councils are now facing a new era of 'E-planning' in which the Internet is used for most facets of the planning process. Councils will need to start preparing not only for getting their plans online, but also exploring means by which the entire plan preparation process can be enhanced through the Internet. This change will require new approaches in such matters as plan formatting, writing style, cross referencing and searching and monitoring.
In preparing for the second generation of plans, it will be essential for local authorities to fully consider how to most effectively use the internet, not only by putting plans online (for example, in keeping them contemporary with changes made through the submissions process), but also how public participation can be enhanced (for example, by making RMA plans interactive through enabling people to identify plan provisions on which they want to send online submissions).
Putting plans online - current practice
Features sought from an online plan
While there are many features that online users want from an online document, some of the basic features sought by users of online plans include:
The most common online mediums
A review of current plans online within New Zealand found PDF to be the most common medium by which plans have been made available online. However, some more recent plans to go online have utilised HTML to provide not only an online version of the plan itself, but also of the associated planning maps. For example, the West Coast District Council has made its District Plan available in HTML as well as PDF mediums.
Some local authorities have made use of PDF for other purposes, including:
Portable document format (PDF)
PDF is a way of viewing files on your computer, with the document appearing exactly like the original: i.e., a PDF document is a replica of the original document, but, as explained later, with more sophisticated features than a simple 'photographic copy'.
A number of programmes can now convert any documents into PDF, including Adobe PageMaker and Adobe Acrobat. A PDF file can then be made available for viewing and printing on any system, either through the Internet or through some other medium (for example, as an email attachment). Essentially, PDF is a convenient, efficient and effective way to share information electronically.
PDFs appear the same across all platforms, a major advantage over Word or HTML documents. PDF documents can therefore be viewed independent of the software, hardware, and the operating system used to create the file because all that is needed to read a PDF file is Abode Acrobat Reader (AAR), a free and readily available programme that is already installed on most computers. Many websites that use PDF also contain links to the Adobe website to enable the user to quickly download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader.
PDF does not format documents - it simply conveys, without alteration, the format of the original document. In setting up a PDF document, security controls can be used to allow or limit printing, copying, and, most importantly for statutory documents, modifications. PDFs are therefore a good way to put a document on the Internet that needs to 'look a certain way', however it may be viewed and printed: that is, when it is necessary to retain the original format. For legal documents such as RMA plans, therefore, this feature is an advantage to ensure the document is an exact copy of the hard copy.
If set up appropriately, there is the ability to search within a PDF document, as well as to provide links to other parts of the same PDF document or to other documents.
PDF is best used for downloading and printing off documents for use in hard copy formats. PDF was not designed for onscreen reading of documents although it has features which assist in helping readers scan and use PDF documents online. However, most plan users will want to quickly find what they need, then download and print those parts they want to use.
It is relatively easy to create a PDF from the original document, and therefore keeping plans online up-to-date is a matter of creating a new PDF version of an updated plan and uploading it onto the website and thereby overwriting the earlier version.
Other features of PDF include:
Hypertext mark-up language (HTML)
HTML is a simple coding language used to create structured hypertext documents, primarily for use on the Internet. HTML structures text and images when read by browsers such as Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Hypertext refers to the use of cross-references or links between bodies of text or images in electronic medium. HTML provides the ability to insert electronic links throughout a body of text to other text or images, whether they are within the same document or externally, in other documents. For example, planning maps can contain direct links to relevant provisions within a district plan, such as the relevant item on a district plan's schedule of heritage features.
HTML uses hidden instructions (i.e., 'marking up' or 'tags') to provide structure to information, thereby allowing web pages to be more visual, clear and effective. HTML uses the structuring of the information to create, in part, the design of a document. The overall formatting is achieved either through the use of style sheets or through the default settings in the web browser being used to access the information.
The most common use of HTML is for creating web pages. For example, the Quality Planning website is set up and managed using HTML (to see an example, just check View: Source on your top menu bar, and you'll see the marked-up HTML version of this page). The format or design of web pages is increasingly being achieved through the use of style sheets (such as Cascading Style Sheets). Formatting an HTML document is not simple, and amending the code to update a HTML based web page (other than very simple pages) is often not an easy process, particularly compared with updating a PDF document.
While HTML is useful for Internet purposes, it has some limitations for the user wishing to download, print and store information. In particular, it is difficult for a user to download a HTML plan and store it electronically, with potential difficulties over formatting, images and links between different HTML documents (for example, if the separate sections of a plan were created as different HTML documents, then all of the sections needed to be downloaded and assembled in the same way they were assembled on the server).
HTML pages appear differently according to different browsers (for example, between Explorer and Netscape), although simplifying the design as much as possible can lessen this inherent problem.
Documents created in HTML can have the following features:
Recently, some local authorities have used HTML for putting their plans online. Westland District Council has, in addition to a PDF version, an online (HTML) version of the Westland District Plan that includes maps on which identified items (such as designations) are hyperlinked to their listed position on the appropriate schedule (for example, clicking on Designation #45 takes you to Designation #45, Hokitika Aerodrome, on the Schedule of Designated Land).
Zipped files
Another means of storing or transferring files is by 'zipping', a process in which files can be compressed using WinZip software, which can then be 'unzipped' by the recipient using the same software. Once unzipped, the file will need to be read and used in the original format - for example, using Word for a zipped Word document.
Zipping files is a common means of archiving electronic documents for storage, as the compression of files saves computer memory space and makes it easy to group files. In addition, zipping files makes the electronic transmission and copying of files much faster, thus saving time and space, and making the process of downloading software and transferring e-mail attachments much faster. Zipping is commonly used to distribute files, particularly large files (for example, high resolution image files, or complex multi-layered CAD drawings). Some mediums, such as PDF and jpg image files, are already compressed and therefore zipping makes little difference.
Zipped files can be downloaded from the Internet and saved on computer directories just as for many other document mediums.
Tips for best practice
Preparation
Integration with the Council website
Which medium?
Making the most of PDF
-
- Using Bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat to provide links
to various sections and subsections of a plan (a bookmark is a link
to the page(s) that have been 'bookmarked'). Refer to the example
taken from the Auckland City Council website below. Note: the lines
in blue are hyperlinks to the relevant parts of the PDF file.
- Using Bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat to provide links
to various sections and subsections of a plan (a bookmark is a link
to the page(s) that have been 'bookmarked'). Refer to the example
taken from the Auckland City Council website below. Note: the lines
in blue are hyperlinks to the relevant parts of the PDF file.
- While most local authority websites make some use of the bookmark function of PDFs, much more use could be made of bookmarking and internal hyper-linking than is currently made by council websites. For example, as well as providing a table of contacts, with subheadings nested within the headings, each PDF file could commence with a home page, in which hyperlinks to the main internal sections within that PDF file are provided. The home page could also provide Acrobat Adobe Reader icons to enable the user to open up other PDF files (for example, the other sections of the plan outside that PDF file).
Breaking a plan up
Updating information and maintenance
Legal considerations
Provided the online version of the plan is the most recent up-to-date version, there is little reason why online plans cannot be used authoritatively, including for hearings. Plans and any changes should be dated on each page.
Ongoing support
It is critical to ensure good ongoing support for the website, whether it be outsourced or done in-house by council staff. Ideally, a large amount of the work can be done in-house (i.e., writing of document content, creation of PDF files from source applications, on-going revision and monitoring) if there are the personnel with the appropriate level of expertise and knowledge. However, for most local authorities, outside expertise will be required for the creation of websites or to peer review and advise on in-house work.
It is important that all parties involved in the process have some knowledge of the statutory purpose of RMA plans, so that the limitations of what can and cannot be altered for formatting into an online version are commonly understood. Therefore, any technical experts will need some appreciation of the end use so they can tailor their advice and support. In conjunction, those persons responsible for the RMA plan require some basic understanding of how the website was developed, its limitations, and its potential for further development and use, so that they can work with the technical experts to support its continued augmentation.
Working towards the future
Local authorities are facing increasing pressure to provide information and services through the Internet, including information on RMA documents and processes.
As many local authorities work towards the first review of the first generation RMA plans, it is likely that a much greater use of the Internet will be made. The following is an overview of what local authorities should be doing to prepare for getting plans online in future. These include:
Writing for the web
It is important to understand that people read from computer screens quite differently to the way they read from paper and therefore web writing requires a different style and approach. Writing for the web involves a different style of writing as well as different formatting cues: a paragraph that looks palatable on paper can change its shape alarmingly when viewed on a computer.
While the preparation of RMA plans should not be governed by the rules for writing for the Internet, the guidelines for good web writing should assist in tailoring plans for online use. Indeed, many of the tips for writing on the web should be standard for all documents that may end up on the web.
Writing for the web actually requires people to smarten up their skills of writing, and therefore training and expertise in this area is useful as part of their general plan writing skills. It is not simply a matter of being more concise, but involves skills in grammar, structuring, and formatting. While some of these skills are new (for example, highlighting keywords, and using descriptive subheadings rather than short titles), some of the basic rules of writing are also important, with good punctuation and grammar being essential.
For more information see a summary of useful tips for writing web-friendly documents.
Some useful websites are listed in under References.
EXtensible mark-up language - XML
An emerging tool is XML, which is a cross-platform, software and hardware independent tool for transmitting information. A good way to describe XML is that it is a recognised standard or protocol for the way to describe information. It does not format documents, but is a behind-the-scenes form of defining the data being displayed on-screen - visually, therefore, you cannot tell whether a document is XML one or not.
In future, XML is likely to be everywhere. However, it is important to understand that, in the immediate future, XML is not a replacement for HTML, as most web browsers cannot readily use XML based information. XML will therefore be used to describe the data, while PDF or HTML will still need to be used to present the information on people's browsers.
While XML is a mark-up language like HTML, it is not a replacement for HTML. XML and HTML were designed with different goals: XML was designed to describe data and to focus on what that data is, while HTML was designed to display and structure data. XML is used to describe and carry data, with the author of the document defining all XML tags for marking up the contents.
As few browsers would be able to directly handle XML documents at present, XML documents would still need to be made available through other mediums. For example, documents created using Word can be converted into XML documents, which are then electronically 'published' by using PDF, PDF or Rich Text mediums.
XML was not designed to DO anything. It has been created to structure, store and send information. It is not a proprietary language - anyone can use it, and no special software is required to use it - it is simply information wrapped in tags (or labels). The author of a document in XML invents the tags to be used for that document - they are not predefined by anyone else. The tags must, however, conform to a prescribed set of protocols (or schema). For example, different RMA plans should use compatible tags to provide consistent descriptions and allow for broader searching.
XML has the potential to make plans prepared in XML much more flexible, with the information described (i.e., marked-up) in such a way as to help people use the plan - for example, in searching for information on a common topic such as all rules relating to forestry.
However, the use of XML in formal and widespread public documents such as RMA plans will be most effectively and efficiently achieved through the development and use of widely accepted schema (i.e., an agreed tag structure of an XML-encoded document) to provide, for example, common descriptions to assist document searching. Until this work is done, the focus of practice should be on extending the current the use of HTML and PDF for putting plans online, based on best practice to date.
Other features of XML include:
E-Government
The Government launched the E-Government Strategy on 26 April 2001. The Government's goal under this strategy is to create a public sector that is structured, resourced and managed to perform in a manner that meets the needs of New Zealanders in the information age and which increasingly delivers information and services using online capabilities.
The mission of the strategy is that, by 2004, the Internet will be the dominant means of enabling ready access to government information, services and processes. For more information, see the E-Government website.
One aim of the strategy is to ensure that all public documents made available through the Internet are as accessible as possible to as much of the public as possible. This drive has implications for local government in that it should influence the mediums used to put documents such as RMA plans on line. For example, such documents should be able to be read by the vision-impaired through speech reading applications.
The E-Government project has established a set of guidelines for web development by all public sector organisations, including local government, which should be used when putting RMA plans online.
In conjunction with the national strategy, local government has established its own E-Local Government Strategy, which aims to support development of e-government initiatives in councils in four main areas:
Part of the Strategy includes making local government information available through the central government portal. For information see the e-local government strategy (PDF 648KB).
E-Planning
As part of the drive towards e-local government will be the increasing use of the Internet for consultative and interactive purposes. For example, there is significant scope for providing over the web conduits through which people can submit applications or submissions online, or request information online. While a number of websites currently provide forms online that can be downloaded and used in hard copy (such as written approval forms, submission forms, and resource consent application forms), there is little use made of electronic forms, such as electronic PDF forms. Such forms could directly link to the provisions of a notified proposed plan, so that submitters can identify the exact provisions to which their submission relates.
In addition, interactive information exchange will be an increasingly important facet of the Internet. In particular this may include the use of interactive planning maps that link to the relevant plan provisions, as well as other property information (such as GIS mapping system, and building consents).
New (non-statutory) elements can be incorporated into the Plan. For example, the Auckland City Council website provide a street address index which links through to the planning maps.
Current challenges
Current challenges faced by local authorities in getting plans online include:
Resourcing
Putting plans online takes both time and money. While larger Councils can dedicate permanent resources to develop and maintain their websites, all local authorities will need to ensure they dedicate sufficient resources to develop and maintain active and current websites. The use of the Internet is no longer a luxury, but has become an important part of public information process. The ongoing maintenance of plans will be a critical component of all council's budgets to ensure the consistent integrity of their online plans. Large projects such as interactive property information systems can require large budgets, which have to be weighed against other demands on local authorities. However, putting plans online can be achieved relatively easily, through the smart use of software and resources.
Technical expertise
Technical expertise is required both in terms of getting the plans online, and for on-going maintenance. All parties involved in the process need to be aware of what is proposed and the end results and use. The technical experts need to be able to fully understand the uses made of the plan, and be able to think laterally how the features of the existing mediums (PDF and HTML) can be optimised to make the online version as user friendly as possible. Obtaining and retaining the appropriate technical expertise is always an ongoing challenge for many local authorities.
Getting buy-in
It is critical to obtain support for the level of commitment for the setting-up, maintenance and review that is required to ensure ongoing technical and financial resources are made available. While the perception that the Internet is not an essential item of communication is lessening, obtaining the full and ongoing support needed to establish and, more importantly, enhance and sometime overhaul online services can be problematic.
Dealing with continual change
RMA plans are continually in a process of change, whether through Environment Court appeals, proposed plan changes or reviews. A challenge to local authorities is ensuring online plans are kept up to date, and few local authorities currently do this well, despite the relative ease of turning plans into PDF files. As important is the need to keep apace with changes in computer and Internet technology, which will continue to provide opportunities for enhanced capabilities.
Integrated interactive information access
Some time in the near future, local authorities will provide access to a wide range of property and other information through the Internet, such as through an interactive GIS mapping system that links not only to the relevant RMA plan and to previous resource consents, but to a range of other Council services, operators, functions and documents: For example, GIS systems would provide links to show where and which resource consents have been previously granted. Obtaining such access, however, presents huge challenges in terms of resourcing and support. For example, there are technical challenges in providing online submissions forms.
Collaborative approaches
To make the most cost effective use of the Internet for planning purposes would be best achieved at a national level through collaborative efforts between local authorities. Otherwise, each local authority will be developing its own techniques, approaches, schema and format, which is likely to duplicate the efforts of other local authorities. The need to develop a single XML schema for plans is illustrative of this challenge. Wider collaborative programmes would also make it more useful and powerful. Joint efforts would also provide the ability to provide a consistent format and style to providing plans online, making it easier for people to access information.
Preparing online plans
The development of new plans in the future will present challenges for RMA policy-makers. Some of these influences may assist in improving the way plans are prepared and used. For example, the techniques for writing for the web could influence the ways plans are prepared, such as the need for shorter paragraphs, more descriptive headings and a scannable format. However, in the foreseeable future, the need to make online plans easier to use will increase the workload for local authorities which are still required to produce hard copy versions that have their own formatting and user requirements.
References
Online district and regional plans
www.localgovt.co.nz/LocalGovernment/CouncilPlansStrategies.htm?DocumentGroup=4
XML
www.xml.com
www.oreillynet.com/pub/faqs/xml_faq_usexml
www.nzetc.org/downloads/xml-for-dummies.ppt (Powerpoint presentation 272 KB)
Writing for the web
www.qwc.co.nz
www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/
E-Government - New Zealand
www.e-government.govt.nz/
library.lgnz.co.nz/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?bib=201
Australia
www.noie.gov.au/ or www.govonline.gov.au/
www.egov.vic.gov.au
Canada
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/cio-dpi/default.asp
United Kingdom
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/
Acknowledgements and editorial comments
This guidance note was prepared by Robert Schofield and Pauline Lyons from Boffa Miskell Limited, who acknowledges the advice of Mike Brown of Signify Limited and Dennis Nugent of Nugent Consultants Limited.
This guidance note was prepared in December 2003
