The Corporation has been awarded funding by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), to lead an innovative project that will revolutionise how important public planning documents are accessed and used.
Beginning in March 2025, the 12-month project will seek to transform how Local Authorities’ planning systems can be interacted with by the public, including data about local plans. If successful, the creation of a standardised approach to digitising these crucial documents is expected to save interested individuals and stakeholders huge amounts of time and resource, when looking for information within the planning system, as well as boost engagement and participation in the planning process.
MHCLG’s Digital Planning Programme and the Corporation have for some time jointly identified the digitisation of Local Plans and associated data as an area for exploration, and both see the wider potential benefit across different Local Planning Authorities. The project is intended to be scalable to a wide range of planning policy areas and five other local planning authorities will partner with the , to ensure the developed solution meets widespread needs across different regions.
The Corporation has been identified as a leader in its progress towards digitisation of its planning system, having already developed interactive digital dashboards that allow people to interact with data in a more flexible and responsive way, helping people find the answers they need faster. Historically, these vital sources of planning information have been locked in lengthy PDF reports, making them difficult to be accessed or reused and so, the project will explore how to solve some of the challenges of interacting with complex planning policy, which can be a barrier to engagement.
The funding will amount to £300,000, announced at the Royal Town Planning Institute Summit, today (13th February).
Chairman of the Corporation Planning Applications Sub-Committee, Shravan Joshi, said:
“As the Secretary of State has pointed out, we are living in a digital age, but the planning system isn’t very digital. This has profound, real-world consequences, that amount to a handbrake on economic growth and a barrier to people engaging with one of the most important functions of local government.
“The City has long been focused on how we can use digital technology to improve the planning process which will be vital, not only help to deliver on economic growth targets, but also enable the public, developers and investors help to enhance the City’s growing cultural offer and tourist appeal. This exciting project with MHCLG is the latest of our digital initiatives, looking at providing better access to data about and in our Local Plan, to enhance the experience of the public and other stakeholders who use this information.”
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