Accessing national information from the Environment Agency

Planning where to place health services

It is not just local government that can improve the way they present information to citizens.

The Environment Agency, for example, has used ESRI’s GIS platform to develop an online application called “What’s in your back yard?” (www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby). Citizens can enter any postcode and see the risk of flooding in the area, what air and water pollution there may be, where waste goes in the area and much more. The information can be shown on a map, or as simple text, helping prepare citizens for floods – information is updated regularly and flood alerts shown – and is also proving useful in making decisions about buying or selling property. The site has proved extremely popular already.