The Times - Web Design?

In the section on 'Local Government' written by an unknown columnist the following points are made to advise Local Government (councils) on web design:
1. Don't try to control content - instead, concentrate on the presentation of the content within an accepted style. The example cited is at Shrewsbury council
2. Scrap printed leaflet entirely - good advice but not relevant to web design.
3. Consolidate the efforts of several councils into one 'mega site'. I wonder if this is such a good idea - bearing in mind what I have observed elsewhere that sites get very difficult to present and difficult for the user to navigate as the level of content increases.
4. Make even serious content engaging. Best advice so far. Check our Salford City Council. Not only do they have a 'ghost cam' on their site, there is also a section about the history of the Eccles cake. Serious point - on the ghost cam forum page they have contributors from the Netherlands! Thanks to that one 'daft idea' Slaford council are getting their services known as far away as Rotterdam! Great idea.

Observation: Although I am not sure about creating 'mega sites' (I don't like hypermarkets either) I think the idea of making some areas of even a serious site attractive to users is a good one. Get people onto the site and they will look around as well. This technique worked for me too. On the school website I run there is a notice board for staff to communicate with pupils (boring. . . .) a chance for pupils to do homework online (boring. . . . .) and a bulletin board / BLOG where kids can chat. Loads of pupils log in to chat on the bulletin board - and stay long enough to read the messages and do the homework. BINGO!