UK template saved Tipperary County Council money on redesign of its website
Council hopes other local authorities in Ireland will now follow its example when they revamp their website
Tipperary County Council made huge savings when it redesigned its busy website by adopting a template already used by 33 UK local authorities.
And the council hopes other Irish local authorities will now follow its lead and also adopt the LocalGov Drupal template when they revamp their websites.
The new-look Tipperary County Council website was officially launched at the local authority’s latest monthly meeting by eDevelopment Project Leader Ruth Maher, who showcased it to councillors.
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She outlined that the council’s website was last redeveloped in 2014 following the merger of South and North Tipperary County Councils. Most local authorities spent between €100,000 and €250,000 on designing their websites, she explained
But during their investigations into the redesign, they came across a project in the UK where 33 local authorities invested in one platform.
She said Tipperary County Council has become the first Irish local authority to take on board this LocalGov Drupal website development template.
Ms Maher hoped other local authorities will save as much money as Tipperary County Council has done by also using it for their website redesigns. “It’s the right and good thing to do. We should be working collaboratively, rather than separately,” she told the county council meeting.
Ms Maher pointed out that Tipperary County Council’s redesigned website came first for accessibility in an audit. She said the website’s Fix It section, where the public can log complaints about anything from littering to roads, has “really taken off” since the redesign was completed.
Tipperary County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Roger Kennedy welcomed the redesign of the local authority’s website.
“It’s very pleasant looking and I hope it works better for everyone,” he said.
Council CEO Joe MacGrath said redesigning a website for a local authority that has so many services was a huge task and thanked Ruth Maher and the council’s IT team for all their work on the project.
While many other organisations had to pay €100,000 to get a website designed, this council got the work done in-house, he added.