HRCC launches new website

Published on 18 April 2018

Horsham Rural City Council has launched a dynamic new website designed to connect customers with information and services quickly, easily and efficiently.

The website hrcc.vic.gov.au is a fresh new look for HRCC's online presence, reflecting the Council's focus on improving communication for the community.

Mayor Pam Clarke said it was important to have a contemporary website that made it easier for people to find the services they wanted.

“The website is Council’s virtual customer service counter for the community for them to find out what is happening at Council, how to get things done and to look up information at any time of the day or night,” Cr Clarke said. 

“The clean, simple look of the site has been designed to meet a high standard of accessibility for people with visual impairments, language restrictions and responds to the technology being used to view it.

“The website connects the community to valuable information about activities, services, policies and opportunities that impact upon their daily lives. We’ve reduced the council jargon and used terms that hopefully everyone will find helpful”.

“The site will also be a great asset for our tourism and economic strategies, with beautiful photos across the site showing off some of our most spectacular scenery, events and communities. Potential visitors and investors want to know what Horsham has to offer, and we’re showing them on every page,” Cr Clarke said.

The website’s Have Your Say section will become the new digital home for community consultation. The public will be able to access all active surveys, discussion forums, polls, questions and more.

Each week, Council averages more than 400 enquiries at the customer service desks, 500 phone calls and 2000 website visitors.

“We are expecting the website traffic to grow throughout 2018 as people find our online services to be an efficient and easy way of staying up to date and accessing services,” Cr Clarke said.

“We know that both young and older people in the region are using digital platforms more and more, including mobile devices. We want to make it easy for them.”

Visitors to the site will be prompted to provide feedback about their online experience. Information gathered will be used to continually help refine and improve the site where possible.