Upcoming improvements to our planning application service

We have been busy working with our colleagues at TerraQuest on an extensive package of improvements to the Planning Portal, which we plan to implement on 9 February. Some of these changes will notably enhance how our regular customers use the system, other changes may not be so noticeable but we are sure will be welcomed by many.

Find out more about each change by clicking on the links below.

• Use Classes – Updates to all but one of our questions that refer to Use Classes to ensure they align with legislation.
• Improving the copy process – After listening to feedback from our users we are happy to share improvements we have made to the copy function. These include more options when copying applications, choosing not to copy supporting documents, changing application type and better contextual information.
• Greater London Authority changes – We have worked with the Greater London Authority to update several of the specific question sets that capture additional information in application submissions for the capital.

Other changes in the next release

Additional information from Local Authorities

We will be adding a field in the Local Authority details we display to users. This will allow a custom message from each Local Authority to be provided if needed.

For example, a message:

• Highlighting specific requirements for application submissions (e.g. an updated set of local information requirements).
• Warning of anything that may affect the processing of submitted applications.
• Informing users of any other relevant matter when working on their applications.

Information for Local Authorities

You will find the new field in the ‘Contact information’ section under ‘LPA Details’ in your admin areas.

Expand the ‘Supporting information’ panel and enter your custom message in the ‘Additional information’ field.

Smaller refinements to improve user experience

The next release also includes several other minor changes as a result of user feedback and our ongoing research and development work.

These will:

• Update the ‘Length’ field in ‘Hedgerow Removal Notice’ applications to resolve a validation issue and allow a full range of values to be entered.
• Update to email notifications to ensure that the version number of an application is included.
• Update to content around amendments to better inform the user as to when an amendment should or should not be made.