Designing new digital planning products
Our community of Local Planning Authorities and digital experts are working together to design new digital planning products that demonstrate what better software could look like. These products aim to dramatically improve the experience of the people using them. They emphasis improving the use of data so that planning applications are more accurate and quicker planning decisions can be made.
Our community also work with existing technology providers to develop and adopt product improvements and integrations that aim to reduce planning application processing times by 20% and improve the way planning data can be used.
Applicants and agents can submit applications correctly the first time around, and council officers can use a data-rich service designed around their needs to make planning decisions quicker.
About the products we have designed
Back Office Planning System (BOPS)
BOPS is an application handling and document management system for local authority planning teams. It centralises the key functions needed to assess and determine a planning application into one system.
Additionally, it is designed around a best-practice workflow that planning officers from multiple councils have contributed to and tested over several years. It provides council planning departments with back-office case management and transactional functions using an easily navigational database.
Digital Site Notice
Digital Site Notice serves as a vital link between local authorities and the communities they serve. It provides clear information to local residents about planning applications that are being considered. This enables residents to find out about new planning developments more easily, share their views and stay updated on progress.
For planners, it offers a streamlined way to gather more structured and meaningful feedback, ensuring planning decisions benefit from community input.
Find out more about Digital Site Notice
PlanX
PlanX, a content management system for planning services, has two main types of services: Guidance service and Applications Service. User-friendly, step-by-step services backed by planning rules help applicants submit the right thing the first time, reducing the number of invalid applications for councils. applications a council receives.
PlanX allows local authorities to collaboratively build and publish their own powerful, accessible digital planning services. It aims to make planning simpler for everyone. It is open source, which means anyone can use it or improve it, or provide commercial services around it, like providing it as a hosted software service or writing and maintaining content.
“I am immensely proud of the work we have undertaken collectively within ODP, including the development of BOPS. This is an example of partnership working at its' best.”
Head of Planning & Development, Buckinghamshire Council
“After a few years of testing and refining, I'm excited that our Digital Site Notice has launched. I'm looking forward to scaling and enhancing this powerful engagement tool further.”
Digital Planning Lead and Product Owner, Camden Council