By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
IT’S fast, easy and free, and according to Lynbrook resident Christopher Morgan it gets results with the right people.
The community-minded app used properly seems to be cleaning up Lynbrook.
President of the Lynbrook Residents Association, Mr Morgan said he had seen the phone app Snap Send Solve make a difference first-hand.
“You only need a small number of people to use it to ensure things get fixed around your estate and in my experience the Casey Council has done a great job in responding to the app,” Mr Morgan said.
Using the app just two weeks ago – concerned about a broken playground post at the Banjo Paterson Park – Mr Morgan took a photo of the broken playground equipment on Saturday 5 September, sent it off to the Casey Council via the app and had a response the following Tuesday.
“I got a call from the council thanking me for contacting them and to confirm that they have temporarily removed the post for safety reasons and they will be going back soon to replace and repair it permanently.
“It’s so nice to see them acting so quickly on issues like this once they know about it,” Mr Morgan said.
An avid user of the smart phone app Mr Morgan said nine times out of 10 he receives a response from council within the same day of snapsolving.
“It’s very user friendly and getting the response reinforces that it wasn’t a waste of your time and you tend to snapsolve more often and it feeds on itself.
“I know that it can definitely help clean up your town and I think it has developed a culture in Lynbrook where people take an interest in their environment and take pride in it,” he said.
Centred on solving anything from graffiti, noise, litter and parking, the app allows anyone to report issues and provide feedback to the right local authorities whether that is council, PTV or VicRoads.
The app takes the user’s location and matches it with the relevant authority with an option to include your details in the report.
A user of two years, Mr Morgan said it was an “absolutely fantastic” way to deal with local problems seen on your travels.
“I’d recommend people to use the Snap Send Solve app anytime you see something broken around your neighbourhood and the Casey Council really do respond quite quickly,” he explained.
Casey’s communications manager Steve Coldham said the council had noticed the public’s online shift and was developing a digital strategy in response.
“We are working so residents and businesses can interact with council services via any device, anywhere and at any time.
“We are also considering how emerging technologies can create new opportunities for Casey’s economy and make the council a more efficient and effective organisation,” Mr Coldham explained.
The draft digital strategy will be available for resident feedback later this year.
