We’re looking at three new areas and we’d like your input to help us understand the size of the problem and opportunity.
Additional Information
Firstly we’d like you to tell us what you think of the supporting documentation provided with an application.
Just to let you know we are making some further improvements to our site which are being released next week on 1 August. Read more…
We understand that some Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) are having difficulty with scaling PDF plans and drawings correctly when printing them and instead requesting paper copies of plans.
The Planning Portal continues to see an increase in planning applications submitted online and the latest stats show that the total number soared again last year.
There were a grand total 242,694 planning applications submitted via the Portal in 2010-11 compared with 178,538 in 2009/10 – a huge increase of 36 per cent year-on-year. Read more…
We are making additional improvements to our website which are being released tonight (14 June). There should be no disruption to normal service.
My hardworking colleagues in the technical team have produced a list detailing all the changes, which you can access here.
As always, please let me know if you have any feedback by adding a comment below.
As you are aware, we are constantly looking at ways to improve our site and so I thought you may be interested to have a sneak preview and see some of the changes we are releasing on Wednesday 27 April.
I hope you find it helpful and informative and as always, if you have any suggestions as to how we can communicate this information better we would like to hear them.
I am pleased to announce the publication of updated information on the Community Infrastructure Levy on the Portal.
The Government announced their decision to retain and reform the levy in November 2010 and amendment regulations come into force on 6th April 2011 to enact some of these changes.
The Government has set out further changes in the Localism Bill, which is currently being considered by Parliament.
The updated pages allow you to access administrative forms, information on the levy and the appeals system (including appeal forms), and notices for use by local authorities. Guidance for local authorities on setting the charge is also available.
As the number one website in the sector, we see the Portal as being a central information point for the levy allowing developers, agents, local authorities and other interested parties to access information on what the levy is, how it operates and what it’s spent on.
A large consultancy recently gave me some interesting data on the direct cost savings of electronic submission. This is extremely valuable information, especially now whilst all of us in the sector must prove our worth.
We need more though to make our case for survival more powerful. As a result I’ve created a table based on the original sent to me which I’d be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete.
This is clearly less than scientific and will only offer a snapshot but it will nevertheless help me make our case.
Please email the eSaving fact find table back to me as soon as you can, I will aggregate and anonomise all of the responses, so no danger of any commercial confidences being broken.
Thanks
Chris
We have recently received a few queries regarding the introduction of the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) as a new Planning Authority from 1st April 2011 and what changes will be needed to accommodate the new National Park on the Planning Portal.
From 1st April 2011, the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) will be responsible for all planning in the National Park. The SDNPA expects to receive up to 4,000 planning applications a year, making it the 8th largest Planning Authority in the country although it has an agreement with the 15 Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) within the National Park who will provide the majority of the day to day planning services on its behalf.
The SDNPA will, however, determine some of the more significant applications itself, and retain overall policy control, but in partnership with the 15 LPAs. The partnership agreement allows LPAs to participate in local planning decisions and helps to provide a seamless transition to all users of the planning system within the National Park. Read more…
I thought it about time I brought you all up to speed on our plans for the coming year and beyond.
You can’t have failed to notice we are in uncertain times so I’ll stress these are our plans and like all plans they may change, in some cases slowly as trends and issues emerge in others the changes may be more radical.
For now this is what we’re up to on the most pressing issues.
1APP
The long awaited upgrade begins here.
There will be small changes to the existing system between now and April to meet legislative requirements. However we have separately kicked off a project through which we hope to deliver the root and branch improvements many of you have been calling for.
The project will include workstreams looking at the policy content and technical delivery whilst focus will also be given to the needs of business users through a commercial workstream.
The work will be overseen by a board which includes representation from the LPA and Business community with further invites pending across both communities to drive the workstreams. We hope to ensure we get it right by inviting some truly critical friends into the groups.
All previous feedback has been collated and will inform the early stages of development which will move forward assuming the business plan stacks up and can be funded. Expect lots more information on this topic in the weeks to come.
Local Planning
We are currently talking with colleagues in LPAs and in the Department to work out what our role in Local Planning should be. I’d be delighted to hear your views on the matter as well. You may be interested to know that one idea being discussed is the use of a localised version of the Interactive House to explain the local variances under an LDO to citizens and developers.
In the meantime we will continue to use the “In Your Area” section of the website to publish relevant information.
Governance
The Minister has challenged us to continue the revenue growth seen in the last 12 months to the point where we become self financing. I hope you’ll agree that whilst the Portal may be a long way from perfect we do bring benefits to the system.
Consequently our plan is to recover much of our costs from the areas where most benefit is delivered and to fill any gap with commercial revenues. All in all we need to generate £1M this year so please don’t be shy, if you want the Portal around in future speak to your marketing teams and point them in our direction.
Running alongside the above some of you will be aware that the Portal is currently the subject of a review into our future, focussing particularly on the financing. Interviews are currently underway with a broad spectrum of partners and stakeholders and the review team anticipate delivering an initial report in late March or early April.
There will be opportunities for more widespread input from the community as work progresses.
Online planning
The need to simplify and improve the planning application process has not gone away and even though more of you than ever are submitting online we must not lose focus. We are currently considering our strategy for 2011/12. The economic and environmental benefits of online submission are clearer than ever especially at a time where Local Authorities are very focussed on channel shift to online. I anticipate the aforesaid 1App improvements will help in this matter but I would welcome any thoughts on where you think other opportunities may lie.
Well that’s all for now, as always get in touch by commenting or use the email contact at top left if you prefer. Thanks for helping us through 2010 and in advance for your support through the challenging year ahead.
Planning Portal Blog 