The MySociety gang have been at it again; their latest elegant contrivance is a neat little mashup called 'Neighbourhood Fix-It'. Whack in a postcode, drag the map around, and click to add a report of something amiss in your local area -- graffiti, broken paving slabs, dead streetlights, that sort of thing. The site then scurries off and messages the appropriate bit of local government for you. And, of course, allows you to look at other local issues flagged by other users, with per-problem RSS feeds and so on. I'm hoping there's a back-end for councils to track problems in their areas, but even if there isn't they could presumably build that relatively straightforwardly.
In my few minutes' playing, the only thing I dislike is the apparent inability to zoom the map. Otherwise, this is a classic MySociety project -- deceptively simple, approachable, and positively reeking of 'how things should be done.' I think I'm most impressed that they continue to dream this stuff up. While the site is apparently 'obvious,' there's nothing obvious about imagining it.
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; "Clock")
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.jpg',60,315,'gallery-item-10'); "Connection to government")
it bloody works!
Matthew, How’s that for a success story. I had noted that the graffiti had gone a few days ago. It has literally been there for at LEAST five years. It is actually such a local landmark that I have met people through my work that have some connection to the area, and described where I live. They reply, ‘oh the house by the postbox that says ‘we are perverts we come to get you”.
I found your website via www.quernstone.com, which is run by a pal of mine.
Thank you very much for setting up the website, great success as far as the postbox is concerned!
Thanks again,
James
——-Original Message——- From: Matthew Somerville [mailto:xxxxxxxx@mysociety.org] Sent: 12 March 2007 17:53 To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com Cc: Neighbourhood Fix-It Subject: [Fwd: Re: Problem Report: Nasty Graffiti]
Hi,
Apologies for the long delay, but here’s a reply from your council that we received instead. We’ve since changed the site so that any council replies should go direct to the user.
ATB, Matthew, mySociety
———— Original Message ———— Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:02:32 +0000 From: xxxxxx@islington.gov.uk To: xxxx@neighbourhoodfixit.com Subject: Re: Problem Report: Nasty Graffiti
Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your email
Your email has been received, acknowledged and reported on a service request 1384267
It has been forwarded to Street Environment Services Department for investigation or action.
Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you have any further queries.
Regards Contact Islington Tel 020 7527 2000 Fax 020 7527 5001 Mincom 020 7527 1900 Web www.islington.gov.uk http://www.islington.gov.uk
———————- Original message ———————- From: “Neighbourhood Fix-It” xxxx@neighbourhoodfixit.com To: “Islington Borough Council” xxxxxx@islington.gov.uk Cc: Subject: Problem Report: Nasty Graffiti Dear Islington Borough Council,
Wooohoo! Go MySociety!
(I’ve edit the above to block out email addresses)