Planning portal location plan feature update 2023

[edit] Planning Portal launch new location plan feature

The Planning Portal location plan feature means a process change for applicants when creating and submitting applications. From a practical point of view, the planning portal are keen that members and affiliates are aware as it will be a process change and the new service will be an integrated feature when making applications.

[edit] What is the new location plan service?

The new location plan service will allow applicants to easily draw the application site ‘red line’ boundary on a map, after finding the site address using the postcode search (or the location by entering a grid reference). Alternatively, the applicant can upload a GeoJSON file. This new service can be used as an alternative to purchasing a location plan elsewhere, offering an easy, integrated solution.

Once the application is submitted, the Local Authority will receive this boundary information as location data (GeoJSON format). The shift from ‘documents’ to ‘data’ is a key tenet of UK government’s objective to digitise and standardise planning processes nationwide.

However, until the legislation is changed and Local Authority systems can utilise the data, Planning Portal will also automatically create a location plan PDF, showing the boundary and meeting all current policy requirements that will also be received by the Local Authority as a separate supporting document.

[edit] Benefits of a consistent process

By introducing this feature to the Planning Portal, everyone benefits from a consistent process.

For users, they can draw the site boundary as part of their application journey on the Planning Portal using our simple tool – saving time and therefore money, on each application, or upload their own file. As an additional benefit, planning professionals can retrieve a copy of their location plan as a PDF or data file, for uploading directly into their own systems.

Local Planning Authorities receive information in a standard way for each application, which is checked against legislative criteria – reducing the likelihood of an invalid location plan. The method also reduces the manual effort involved in re-plotting the site location, and the user’s process is the same for every application, regardless of which Local Authority receives it. We know from our experience, and the introduction of our payment service specifically, that this standardised approach brings greater efficiencies for all.

[edit] Service charge for applications

The current service charge to make an application will be increased with inflation as usual and a small additional amount added to cover the cost of the new feature. The amount for the new feature is comparable to existing costs for purchasing this data elsewhere and will allow us to cover the costs of providing the service, including Ordnance Survey licensing and royalties for use of their maps. A small amount of profit from the service is used for ongoing improvements.

A key benefit of the service is that we will use OS as the base map who has a relationship with Local Planning Authorities to share data through the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA). Using OS means an uplift in the costs but should mean a smarter and more efficient submission process for all. It also means we can pass the digital location plan file (in GeoJSON format) to LPAs to ingest in their planning systems when currently they are manually plotting this from a PDF plan. This will save them resources in time and staff and should help reduce invalidations due to location plan issues that affected c.22% of submissions.

[edit] DLUHC’s planning data platform and national standards for LPAs

You will be aware of DLUHC’s planning data platform (planning.data.gov.uk) where they are looking to set national standards for LPAs to publish their local plans. As part of this we can then look to build up on our current technical foundations and the new location plan feature to facilitate greater integration with these national and local designations to better inform the planning submission process and the required documentation.

More details can be found at https://www.planningportal.co.uk/services/professional-portal/location-plan

This article appears in the AT Journal issue 146 summer 2023 as "Planning Portal (England and Wales) update" and was written by Scott Alford, Head of Business Development, Planning Portal.

--CIAT

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