The successful website — www.ratesinfo.ccc.govt.nz — was set up to coincide with the distribution of new city-wide revaluations mailed out in November last year.

In its first month, the site attracted about 112,000 hits — the number of times a web page is accessed.

Christchurch City Council Customer Services Manager Joan Blatchford says the site received an even greater number of hits in December and January.

“During December the figure was more than 150,000. That’s an average of almost 5000 page views a day. In January, the figure rose to more than 170,000.”

The most popular Council web sites are the main City Council site, www.ccc.govt.nz, and the Christchurch City Libraries site, www.library.christchurch.org.nz, followed by the rates info site. Council websites can be accessed free of charge at any of the Christchurch City Libraries.

Joan Blatchford says that in the past, people had to either phone or come into the Council and look through rating books for information. They can now look this information up themselves, saving time and hassle.

“The goal is to make it easier for customers to access information and do business with the Council using the web to save time and lower costs,” she says.