Well folks, I’m going to be off for a few days, so I thought I’d take the opportunity for a general round-up and response to some of the recent discussions on the blog. I also thought I’d take the opportunity to give you a little more info on our plans for the coming year.
Before that, I’d like to remark that this blog had its first birthday yesterday and in that time it has received almost 40,000 views. I hope you find it useful. I certainly enjoy the banter and relish some of the challenging feedback. I’d be delighted to hear your views on what the future of the blog should be, in particular, ways it might be improved.
A common theme throughout the year has been the fairly regular and fairly robust criticism of 1App. Not least in the recent thread of discussion around building control – where a regular comment has been: “Don’t do it if you are going to turn it into another 1App,” referring to what is considered by many to be its over complexity. There have been many perfectly sensible suggestions for how it might be improved and hopefully you will have seen some of those ideas come to fruition over the past year.
What we haven’t managed to do yet, is find the time to step back and consider the step-change in delivery that the process requires to make it truly compelling. In order to achieve that, we need some clear water and I’m sure you’ll appreciate from your own working lives that it is not always easy to find.
In the past year we have attracted several unanticipated projects that have distracted us from giving 1App the attention it deserves. But rest assured, we intend to make improving 1App a major objective for the coming year. In particular, we hope to make it simpler and easier to use.
You may have seen recent posts about multiple uploads and offline working, please take a moment to comment on these threads, but I’ll also post a separate “name your own improvement” post shortly, followed by a poll asking you to vote for the most pressing.
The most recent topic to excite your interest appears to have been the subject of Building Control and the Portal’s role in it. There appears to be a view that the Portal is attempting some kind of land grab and I’d like to reassure you that the view could not be further from the truth.
By far the most common question I receive personally, and our team receives at meetings around the country, is: “When are you going to do Building Control?” I have to react to this and thought I’d begin by giving our users a chance to corroborate or reject the proposal that we should deliver some e-capability.
Many point to LABC and the supplier Submit-a-Plan and suggest simply that we promote their services. While I regularly talk with both parties – and have a lot of respect for them – it has to be remembered that both are private companies and neither represents the totality of local authorities. The Portal, as a Government unit, has to engage equally with all players and must be seen not to be favouring any single company.
All that said, we won’t be doing anything at all without the support of our customers and the sponsoring department within CLG, so watch this space and keep adding your comments.
And finally, I’m not sure exactly how long I’ll be out of the office but colleagues will keep this particular fire stoked while I’m away, so keep the feedback coming please.
Chris
Here is a link to all the previous mini-guides and Interactive Houses for all who have missed them previously.
Coming soon – a mini-guide to conservatories.
Chris
I’m in the throes of working up next year’s business plans and I’ve got to the question of Building Control.
I’m regularly berated for lack of forward movement on this front, so I thought that I’d seek your views.
Given that funds will be very tight next year, if there is only one thing we do on Building Control, what should it be?
Chris
It has been suggested to me more than once, most recently by Pete in the Paperless Planning thread, that the Portal’s application process would be greatly improved by introducing the ability to choose to upload all attachments to an application at one time, rather than individually as it is at present.
Views please.
Chris
Firstly, I’d like to thank all who have commented on the previous post regarding advertising on the Portal. I really appreciate your feedback, particularly, the pragmatic views expressed that accept the very real economic circumstances we all find ourselves in.
Later in this post I’ll set out in a little more detail some of the opportunities we will offer, however, I thought I’d first deal with a few of the points made in the previous thread.
Times are tough and budgets will shrink. This is a statement of fact for most in the public and private sectors and the Planning Portal is not immune.
Where we are more fortunate than many is in the opportunity we have to develop commercial services that contribute to our costs and help secure our future. We have always had a commercial outlook and this challenge presents us with an opportunity to bring our commercial experience to the fore.
Read on for more information on banner advertising and sponsorship including how to get on board
Read more…
We are considering developing a service that will enable LPAs to access Adobe ‘LiveCycle’ functionality via a web service.
Using the service, an LPA would upload planning application files together with a manifest and receive back the files with the Adobe ‘LiveCycle’ functionality added, e.g. Site Measuring Tool. Currently, only files submitted via the Portal carry this functionality.
This would remove the need for LPAs to buy or deploy licensed software in their own domains, reducing costs, support and maintenance and delivering easy-to-use functionality, with a minimum of disruption to LPA systems.
I am canvassing feedback to see if you would be interested in this service, which may be made available for a small annual fee or on a pay per use service.
Hello,
I was asked recently for a list of all the LPAs who currently accept online payments for planning applications made via the Portal.
If only everything was so simple.
The latest in our well-received series of mini-guides to the permitted development regime for householder building projects is now live on the Portal.
As you can see, the guide uses graphics to illustrate the basics of permitted development for outbuildings and complements the guides for porches, extensions and loft conversions as well as the Interactive House and Terrace.
All these guides aim to explain permitted development to the lay-person in a simple and user-friendly way. We are delighted when LPAs and others choose to link to the guides and we update them as legislation changes.
We’re very happy to hear how we might improve any of these guides, and are always keen to receive feedback of any kind.
Chris
Hello,
Our hard-working technical team today introduced software release 370 to address various issues with the online application forms. Find more details in the article.
I often hear that it would be useful to applicants to be able to work on a planning application offline before later uploading the application to the Portal.
As this is not an inconsequential change (and funds are scarce), I’d welcome your feedback on the usefulness of this suggestion.
Thanks,
Chris
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