Show your community what's being built, and why.
Foreground turns a works program into a plain-English public map: what each job is, where it is, what's coming next, and why it's being done. Residents can see the work for themselves instead of ringing to ask.
- Resheet
- Formation grade
- Drainage
- Floodway
Illustration. The live map is at foreground.net.au.
What it shows
Every work on a map
Each job drawn from the council's own location data, coloured by the type of work.
Plain-English reasons
Treatment codes translated into what's actually being done to the road, and why.
What's coming
Works grouped by stage: out to tender, awarded, underway and complete.
Works near me
Residents find the works closest to them without knowing a road name or chainage.
The big picture
Total kilometres, number of works, and the split by community and type of work.
Progress
How much of the program has been delivered, where the council records the status of each work.
In development: residents following a road for updates, and asking questions about a work that the council can answer publicly.
Who it's for
Councils
Answer the questions residents ring about: is my road on the list, what's being done to it, and why.
- Somewhere to send residents who ask whether work is planned
- A visible public record of what recovery and capital funding delivered
- Built from records the council already holds
Chambers of commerce
Show members the public works coming to the region and what's out to tender.
- A clear view of the region's works pipeline
- What's out to tender and what's coming
- A resource for member briefings and events
Community groups
Give residents a plain-English view of the works in their area, for newsletters, meetings and local updates.
- Works by community and by road
- The reason behind each job, in plain language
- Something to point people to instead of guesswork
How it's built
Foreground is built from records that already exist: council works data and tender documentation, published council resolutions, and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority's treatment guide, translated into language a resident can read. Every figure traces back to its source.
It presents what the records show and leaves the conclusions to the reader. It doesn't rate councils or contractors, and where the records don't hold something, such as a finish date for an individual road, it says so rather than guessing.
DDES also provides project services and advisory to contractors. Foreground is kept separate from that work: it presents published records and doesn't assess or rank anyone.
Talk to us about your region
Tell us who you are and the area you cover. We'll show you what Foreground would look like with your region's works.