Council Map Server (CMS) has been developed in response to ratepayer's inability to use their council's websites to access spatially related information. A survey of council websites has concluded many lacked even basic mapping capabilities. Often council websites do not present spatially related information (e.g. parks, service locations, etc) on maps at all.
Internet user expectations have increased over the past few years such that websites are now expected to provide 'application style' functionality. Interactive maps provide for an engaging user experience, however, good map serving solutions are typically complex to set up and maintain.