Council implements mapping system to support environmental health

Ards Borough Council plots complaints by map to find problem patterns

Ards Borough Council is using a geographic information system to keep a better track on environmental health complaints.

The system gives council officers the chance to plot complaints on maps of the Northern Ireland borough's area, identifying patterns and problems.

Local environmental health practioners covering Ards can take years to build up a detailed knowledge of the local area due to its size, says Ards Borough Council's chief environmental health officer Graeme Bannister.

'The fact that we can pinpoint problems on a map of Ards using this Consilium supplied system gives us a far better insight into the exact nature of problems and means we’re better equipped to assess why they might be occurring,' he said.

'Rather than taking a short term approach to putting a stop to a problem, we can reduce the incidence of reoccurrence by taking more long term action.'

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Further reading:

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• Local council uses IP to serve public