One of the most popular sections of Blaby District Council’s renowned website has been streamlined for residents.
To ensure an easy online experience, the Planning section has undergone a makeover to make it easier for users to make an application, search for an application and find out if you need to submit an application.
With around 1500 applications and requests made every year, Planning is one of the Council’s most popular services.
In 2015 Planning generated over 146,000 page views, accounting for almost 10% of all visits to the website.
A section has also been produced for major applications including Lubbesthorpe, for both residents and research students.
The extensive development with over 4,000 homes has a dedicated area with information on the history of the planning process and latest updates.
A new online service offered in Blaby District will revolutionise the way residents manage their online services from the council.
‘My Account‘ has been launched by Blaby District Council, with all residents in the district eligible sign up and take advantage of the services on offer.
Those who register for My Account will be able to manage their Council Tax, including checking their current balance, viewing bills and reporting any changes in circumstance.
Members of the council-owned Pavilion Leisure Centre will also be able to book sports and leisure activities through the online system.
Residents will also be able to check the progress of their requests and view their history of contact with the council.
This innovative part of My Account ensures that residents can track every step of their communication with the council, without having to call and check.
More new features are planned as Blaby District Council aims to streamline its services in an ever-more digital world.
Cllr David Freer
Councillor David Freer, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services, said:
“I’m thrilled that My Account is now available for residents. Our new service will make accessing council services much easier and save people a lot of time. We have a commitment to ensure vulnerable people can still access their services over the telephone, or face-to-face at the council’s offices.
“I’m proud of all those at Blaby District Council who have worked so hard to ensure My Account is the best possible online service for our residents. This really is an exciting step forward for us.”
Homes and businesses in Enderby are taking advantage of the increase in broadband speed thanks to the Superfast Leicestershire project.
The project is a £28 million partnership between Leicestershire County Council and BT to increase the fibre broadband coverage across the county.
In Blaby District, many communities have already benefitted from the upgrades in broadband. Almost 5,400 additional premises have been reached across 14 villages including Enderby, Sharnford, Braunstone Town and Blaby.
Kirby Muxloe, Narborough and Thurlaston will receive a further boost in the coming months, as the partnership continues to ensure villages receive extensive coverage across the district and county.
One of the many businesses to benefit from the introduction of Superfast Broadband to the district is Littlethorpe-based POD Chiropody and Laser, run by directors Raj and Zoe Zavery.
Raj Zavery
Raj said:
“As our workload increased, it was no longer practical to operate the whole business with everyone sharing one computer; it took forever to upload large files to our website and out connection was very unreliable.”
Having fibre broadband, allows people to benefit from faster upload and download speeds. In particular, businesses can also run meetings by video link and reach customers through new, faster and easier to track methods of communication like Facebook and Twitter.
POD director Zoe added:
Zoe Zavery
“As soon as we made the change to superfast fibre broadband we noticed the difference immediately. We get up to 40Mbps which allows us to do lots of online tasks at once.
“We now take for granted that our connection is strong and reliable; customer service is never affected. Effective technology is critical for us; the business would not survive without it.”
Tom Purnell, Assistant Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council, said:
Tom Purnell
“It’s exciting to be at this stage in the project, as we see more people able to take advantage of the many benefits of fibre broadband.
“Homes and businesses in Blaby District, like the rest of Leicestershire, are benefitting from our partnership with BT and I’m looking forward to even more cabinets being connected in the near future.”
Leicestershire County Council has invested £5.4m in the project. £1.1m has been allocated by the district and borough councils including Blaby District Council, with an additional £6.5 million coming from Government and £1.2 million from the European Union Development Fund.
The Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership has allocated £2 million from its Local Growth Fund and BT is also contributing £11.4 million towards the overall cost of the Superfast Leicestershire deployment.
Blaby District Council are conducting a budget and satisfaction survey with residents of the district, covering views on public services in the district, priorities, Council Tax and how the council can make improvements.
Taking place over the next four weeks, the survey will be used to help find out more about the progress of the authority’s “Blaby Plan” and any future proposals.
Blaby residents are being asked for their views on what services they think are the most important to help people to age well in Blaby.
Residents’ views, alongside the views of members of the Blaby District Over 50s Forum and local partners who provide services for older people, will be used to help to determine the priorities that will help Blaby District Council and other partner organisations to address the needs of its ageing population.
Jon Wells, Regulatory & Leisure Services Group Manager said:
“It’s really important that we get as many residents’ views as possible to ensure we focus our resources on the things that matter most. We want to encourage as many people as possible to fill in the questionnaire to help us to do that.”
Residents can get involved by completing the survey on line at www.blaby.gov.uk/ageing-well/ before 1st May.
Paper copies will also be available at Blaby District Council offices, libraries and other key community buildings during the consultation period.
The results of the survey will directly shape the Ageing Well Strategy for Blaby District.
For more information please contact the Partnerships Team by emailing strategic.partnerships@blaby.gov.uk or by calling 0116 272 7566.
One of the most popular sections of Blaby District Council’s renowned website has been streamlined for residents.
