Colchester has been selected as one of eight local authorities to lead a pathfinder project to explore ways to enhance digital planning services.
The £150,000 project*, funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), will see the council work with its existing software provider to improve its development management software, so that it supports the vision set out in the Government’s Planning for the Future White Paper.
Improving the software used by Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) is a key focus of the DLUHC’s work to reform the planning system in England.
The 12-week project aims to modernise planning software to provide more effective planning services for applicants and planning officers alike, which are key to the proposed reforms to the planning system.
The council will follow the principles of the Local Digital Declaration in its project work, to ensure that user-needs come first and that the outputs are shared openly with other LPAs and can be reused elsewhere where possible.
Cllr Andrew Ellis, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, said: “I am delighted that we have been selected as a pioneering council to develop the kinds of sophisticated digital tools fit for a modern, open and responsive planning system.
“The feedback from our pathfinder project will help shape a simplified, more efficient and responsive planning system for the public and officers alike, and I very much look forward to seeing the results of our improved development management software working in practice.”
*To be shared by Colchester Borough Council and its software provider.
Page last reviewed: 21 January 2022