ONH: Planning for Good is delighted to have launched a number of digital plan products with clients over the last month. The government is keen to make planning digital and accessible for all – but what are the benefits over a PDF document and maps?
Why the change? Digital planning legislation update
You might have heard about open digital planning, and the push to make planning more digital. This project started under the previous government, and had a clear aim to improve the ability of the public, local authorities, and developers to access important information about planning policies around the country. At the moment planning data can be hard to find, with key planning information contained across hundreds of different websites in many different formats.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No.3 and Transitional and Savings Provision) Regulations came into force on 31st March 2024 and brought three key sections of the LURA into law (s84-86). These sections focus on specified data standards. The law allows both the Secretary of State to require LPAs to produce their local plans, and other planning data, to a specified standard and the LPA, in turn, to require planning data to be given to them to a specified standard. We know that these formats will relate to digital accessibilty, including online mapping of policy areas.
What does this mean for neighbourhood plans, design codes, and other community-produced plans? In essence, it means that soon they too are likely to be required to be put together in that same specified - digital - format. Doing so would improve the accessibility and visibility of neighbourhood plans, and should improve compliance.
While you could wait and see, increasingly, forward thinking councils are choosing a digital platform for their upcoming planning projects.
The use of digital planning can start from the first stages of your project:
Community engagement
Doing so can improve survey response rates: every area has a ‘hard-to-reach’ group of residents who don’t regularly take part in public consultations. With digital surveys barriers to participation can be removed from the equation. A digital survey can be easily completed at home, on the train to work, or at a school. We know that younger people, people with disabilities, and working families engage more often in digital consultations than paper options.
ONH’s digital survey and mapping option offers much more than other online survey platforms. Map based questions that could previously only be delivered in person, with paper maps on hand, can now be delivered anywhere – with community input recorded directly to digital maps. This process smoothly creates an excellent evidence base for future projects and policies.
Take this example: in an early survey residents were asked to identify which area represented the 'main centre' by dropping a pin on a map. An aggregate map can be used to clearly identify the most popular location choice. Future surveys can refine the results further.
Digital design codes
Each design code follows a careful process of character area analysis and creating a vision for the future. The final product is an easily digestible code that any person wishing to build in the area can follow.
Design Codes can offer guidance at every project size, from extensions to new developments, and tackle inappropriate and out-of-character development; promote higher environmental standards; identify areas for improvement and protect key views.
But why go digital? Digital planning documents, including design codes, are easier to find, search and understand than PDFs loaded onto a website, improving awareness of your design code and how to apply it.
Digital neighbourhood planning
Neighbourhood plans are here to stay: consider a plan if you would like to create clear planning rules for your local area based on evidence created by and for your community, specifically for and about that place.
Neighbourhood plan websites offer clear and easy-to-navigate plans, helping users to find information quickly.
Using ONH’s online service also allows multiple digital tools to be integrated into one platform, from blogs to post community updates; to consultation opportunities and evidence base archives.
Digital policy maps are particularly useful. Users can zoom in, search and scroll around an area to see which policies apply where.
Locality grant funding for Neighbourhood Plans and Design Codes is still available.
Accessibility
Digital products improve accessibility – allowing users to adjust the document to suit their personal preferences and needs for example: adjustments to the text size; colour contrast; and the ability to navigate quickly and easily straight to the content they are looking for.
Cost effective and straight forward
As specialists in community planning, ONH regularly work with parish, community and town councils. ONH’s digital products are cost effective and straight forward to use.
Comentarios