The Planning White Paper includes a strong emphasis on the need to digitise planning in order to streamline the service. The past few years have seen the planning profession embrace technology in a variety of forms only accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic – how this trajectory continues will be important to the future of the profession.
'Technology' is a very broad sphere and previous blogs have considered how the use of virtual reality and changing shopping habits will shape engagement with planning and the direction developments take.
Covid-19 has advanced the uptake of digital filing, online meetings and flexible working facilitated by technology, changing the world of work for planning professionals now and for the future. It has also demonstrated the capabilities technology offers – trends towards digitising planning policy and application documents are now proposed as realistic suggestions in the Planning White Paper.
Local authorities are required to produce planning policy documents which set out the vision and framework for development in their area. The Planning White Paper reviews the way these are prepared and published, with increased promotion of the use of proposals maps and digitally available documentation to improve accessibility.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) projects are also increasingly published digitally, with a 'Digital EIA' becoming the norm for development consent orders and other schemes. The accessibility offered by online versions of increasingly complex planning documents is well documented and a key part of the Planning White Paper, making planning more democratic contributes to more robust place making.
Covid-19 and restrictions on public gatherings and face-to-face meetings have also led to a rapid and significant shift to the use of online meeting tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, with the Coronavirus Act 2020 enabling virtual committee meetings which mean the planning decision making process does not slow.
Technology offers the opportunity to democratise the planning process. Virtual consultations allow greater and more flexible engagement, while visualising planning policy through maps or application of AR or VR to demonstrate development in situ provides a fast and easy way to describe what is intended.
It is not without downsides – computer and internet access are key priorities for all as planning becomes digitised in order not to exclude anyone, and there has to be the resource in place both financially and with planners ourselves to ensure the correct applications are proposed and effectively used.
But planners cannot do it alone. We need to collaborate with colleagues and the public across all areas of development and society to embrace the opportunities the increased digitisation of planning offers.
Further information
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