Industries: Local Government
Scenic Amenity Mapping for Gold Coast City Council
In order to manage and protect its scenic assets, the Gold Coast City Council commissioned Terranean to identify and map Scenic Amenity across the Gold Coast landscape.
Scenic Amenity refers to benefits the community obtains from the aesthetic visual character of the landscape. The high Scenic Amenity value of the Gold Coast’s beaches, forests, waterways, parks and farmlands represent valuable assets through their contribution to tourism and quality of life.
Scenic Amenity is a function of the community’s preference for different types of landscape and the visibility of landscapes from public viewing locations. It is calculated from two factors:
- 1. Scenic Preference – a measure of the relative contribution of community preference for different landscapes, and
- 2. Visual Exposure – a measure of the relative visibility of different parts of the landscape.
The primary outputs of the project were new Scenic Preference and Scenic Amenity maps. Both have a resolution of 10 metres, suitable for planning at 1:25 000 scale. This project also produced the most detailed and accurate landcover map of the Gold Coast that will be useful for a wide range of projects. These maps were provided as GIS layers compatible with the Council’s GIS system and as a series of 1:25 000 scale maps in printed and digital format.
These maps will be used by the GCCC to:
- Address the requirements of the Queensland State Government’s “South East Queensland Regional Plan 2005-2026 Scenic Amenity Policies”
- Assist in developing key strategies, including Council’s “Draft Local Growth Management Strategy” and “Landscape Character Strategy”.
- Provide a basis for assessing the visual impact of proposed developments.
The project represents a significant advance in Scenic Amenity mapping methodology because it adopted the universal Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) developed by the United Nations FAO. This provides a number of tangible benefits; the methodology and models are not specific to the Gold Coast and these maps can be compared directly with other Scenic Amenity maps produced using the same system. This provides a basis for assessing the regional significance of the Gold Coast’s Scenic Amenity assets. The LCCS system also provides a basis for readily updating the Gold Coast Scenic Amenity map whenever new landcover maps become available and to provide a baseline from which to monitor Scenic Amenity over time.
Ipswich City Council
Detailed Contours and High-resolution Ortho-rectified Mosaics
The Challenge
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Ipswich City is one of the largest and fastest growing local authorities in Australia. South East Queensland is continuing to experience unprecedented population growth, and the recent state government regional plan earmarked Ipswich City to accommodate much of this future growth.
High-quality mapping is a prerequisite to plan for this growth. Terranean Mapping Technologies was engaged to undertake a detailed mapping project covering the entire 1200 square km Council area.
The Project
Terranean initially arranged capture of 1:12,000 and 1:40,000 scale aerial
photography and provision of photographic contact prints. We used entirely
digital processes and systems to extract a detailed DEM,
which in turn was used to generate 1.0m and 5.0m contours and high-resolution
ortho-rectified mosaics. Buildings and associated features were extracted
for integration into the Council’s asset management database.
The Result
A distinguishing feature of this project is the high level of customer satisfaction. It has been generally recognised that this mapping work is the best quality that Council has had produced, during the 12 years that Council has been integrating aerial imagery as part of its corporate GIS system.
Frankston City Council
High-resolution Ortho-rectified Mosaics
The Challenge
Frankston is a progressive regional city adjacent to Melbourne, on Port Phillip Bay, which has a strong emphasis on maintaining lifestyle. A prerequisite for maintaining these values is a strong planning ethic, and high quality maps are an essential part of this type of planning.
In 2004, Terranean Mapping Technologies was engaged to undertake a detailed mapping project covering the entire Frankston Council area.
The Project
Terranean arranged capture of 1:5,000 and 1:10,000 scale aerial photography and used entirely digital processes to create a detailed DEM. This was used to generate high-resolution ortho-rectified mosaics, which were integrated into the Council’s on-line asset management database.
The Result
Again, quality expectations were exceeded and Council staff acknowledged that this was the best mapping base that they had ever worked with.
Sutherland Shire Council
Historical Mapping Project
The Challenge
Sutherland Shire is one of the largest urban councils in NSW. It encompasses a variety of landscapes ranging from the urban fringe of Sydney, Botany Bay, and the historical Royal National Park.
The area is characterised by growth and rapid change. In order to address a perceived need to understand the dynamics of this change, Terranean Mapping Technologies and Council together embarked on a challenging partnership to provide a record of the changes during the decades.
The Solution
The NSW Department of Lands stores a library of historical photographs over the whole state. The Department and Terranean engaged in discussions with a view to locating and accessing historical images over Sutherland Shire. This was not a standard procedure and the Department of Lands and Terranean needed to develop agreements and processes to find, capture, and use the relevant images.
After agreements were reached and processes developed, Terranean processed the scanned aerial images from the Department of Lands and a DEM from the Council, to produce historical ortho-rectified mosaics.
The Result
The partnership has been a success and Sutherland Shire now has ortho-rectified mosaics of imagery from the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1980’s. Planners can now quickly overlay historical imagery over present data within their GIS, in order to gain an understanding of the changes that have occurred in the past. This represents an invaluable tool for this environmentally aware Council, enabling them to provide better management of growth into the future.
This project is of particular interest to other Councils in NSW, as Terranean has invested in streamlining its procedures for quickly locating, gaining access to, and scanning historical aerial photography, and producing rectified mosaics. In the future, Terranean can offer a cost-effective service to any other local government authority.
Terranean now offers this service in all other Australian states.
Barcoo and Ilfracombe Shire Councils
Mapping Project
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The Project
Barcoo and Ilfracombe are remote rural shires in Western Queensland. Local Engineers and Planners, George Bourne and Associates, engaged Terranean Mapping Technologies to undertake detailed mapping over the four key towns within the two shires.
Terranean Mapping Technologies applied the latest digital mapping techniques to supply a quality, yet cost-effective solution to these two low-rate base councils.
Terranean arranged capture of 1:10,000 scale aerial photography and provision of photographic contact prints, followed by extraction of detailed feature data across each of the towns. Vegetation, hydrography, roads, buildings, DEM’s and 1.0m contours, as well as other feature data were extracted and integrated for asset management use within the Councils’ GIS. Ongoing services include production of photographic enlargements as required.
The Result
An efficient and reasonably costed project was completed using the latest in digital technologies to meet the practical needs of two remote rural councils.