Digital signage will soon be a reality in the City of Canning after the decision was made by the council to allocate $30,000 to it in the current 2020/21 budget.
Councillor Yaso Ponnuthurai submitted a notice of motion on July 21, requesting the chief executive to investigate the installation wayfinding signage, that provides information about what facilities and infrastructure are on site and enables users to connect to nearby parks and reserves.
“Many times, I have noticed that people don’t know what is available at the next park, because people tend to use just the one park which is close to their house or their working place,” she said.
“But since we are moving to the digital world, it is important that we also install wayfinding signages.
“The city’s office has identified how similarly the technology can address other challenges across the city.
“A number of other cities are using digital signage and by doing this we can attract more people to explore this beautiful city.
“So, we need to make it flexible and much easier for everybody to access these local parks and reserves.”
Councillor Ponnuthurai said this would be an opportunity to expand the ‘This is Canning’ app to include all parks and reserves, in conjunction with other digital opportunities.
“It would be appropriate to trial this in Willetton and then roll it out to other suburbs in Canning,” she said.
“Willetton’s large size, many and diverse parks and their availability by foot and bicycle paths for people to move between parks, makes it an ideal choice for trialling this new approach to park signage.”
City officers supported the motion and stated that the current signage infrastructure in parks and reserves was in need of significant renewal expenditure, which is estimated at more than $200,000.
“The opportunity to explore a digital platform, in lieu of significant investment in physical signage, may deliver savings and enable greater currency of information and avoid (or at least reduce) the need for subsequent updating and capital expenditure,” they said.
“Officers support the concept of a trial using a particular suburb, prior to a decision being made on a broader roll out of the way finding initiative across the city.
“Further, the use of parks and reserves for the trial of non-physical signage and information is supported and identified as a significant opportunity.”
So far city officers have identified the use of similar technology to address other operational challenges across the city’s facilities including, safety video Leisureplexes, Wayfinding along Walking and Cycling routes, events, educational initiatives at CREEC and Smart Industrial Areas.
