Agenda item

7.1       The Committee received a report which provided an overview of the digital     planning technology (‘plan tech’) sector. The sector has expanded rapidly in    recent years through greater understanding of the potential for technology to enhance the planning process and due to the availability of new sources of             funding, such as the Government’s Local Digital Fund. It is in this context that the Government’s White Paper ‘Planning for the Future’ provides significant     support for greater use of digital technology in planning.

7.2       The Town Planning service has been operating as a wholly digital, paperless,             service since November 2015 using the Uniform software platform and IDOX             document management system. Over the last five years the paperless model    adopted in 2015 has been steadily refined using knowledge built up through           day to day operation of the service. Consequently, it is now an effective             platform on which to operate the service.  Indeed, the paperless operating         model, in tandem with use of more recent digital networking tools such as   Microsoft Teams, has enabled the day to day operation of the Town Planning             service to continue largely uninterrupted by the impact of the COVID-19          during 2020

7.3       The Committee were informed that the MHCLG Digital Fund provided funding rounds for digital projects via their local Digital Collaborative Unit to enable local authorities that are signed up to the Local Digital Declaration to research ideas for new digital technology that can be developed into implementation digital applications. The new emerging digital Technology have included: -

·       Plan X. The Application provides a single point of access for planning enquires to a Council’s website and allows applicants to upload images and be provided information on whether projects requires planning permission.

·       Planning Back Office. The software creates a back-office system which enables for planning data and records to be easily accessible.

·       Submit my Planning Application. The software enables household planning applications to be submitted via the Application without the need for applicants to use the Planning Portal.  

·       Planbot – Planning Advice Chatbox. The Application fields general planning enquires using artificial intelligence and enables officers without specialist planning knowledge to respond to planning queries.

·       A London Development Database & London Infrastructure Mapping Application. The database will create an automated back office process for obtaining planning information data from applicants via the London Boroughs. All data will be captured at the point of submission of the application.

·       Viability Assessment Checker & Viability Comparison Tool.  The application would improve the accessibility of viability assessment for members of the public and remove barriers that viability assessments can place for small developers.

7.4       The Committee was advised that a majority of the new digital tools were still being BETA tested by the local authorities which had developed them and were not generally market ready. The Planbot - Planning Advice Chatbox was reported to be in use by LB Redbridge. The Service has been held initial fact finding discussions with officers from LB Redbridge to better understand the potential benefits of this software.

7.5       The Committee agreed that digital tools which can assist the Sub-Committee in visualising proposed development should be explored and noted that these             images would need to be verified. Officers advised that a digital tool titled Vu.City was used by officers to view proposals from various angles. The Committee was informed that large scale developers were encouraged to submit data and that this information was inputted into the Vu.City model. Members were advised that computer generated images may give misconceptions about the bulk, scale and height of building and that developers would provide data which focused on the positive aspects of their proposals. The Committee agreed that further discussions on whether Vu.City or other similar 3D modelling software could be used as part of the officer’s presentation for large scale developments at Sub-Committees should be held and whether their decisions could be based on the 3D views that the programme generates.

7.6       The Committee commented on the importance of new technology packages being compatible with existing programmes used by the Service and noted that officers are currently analysing applications or tools that have the greatest potential to deliver service improvements and efficiencies in the context of the Council’s existing planning service. As officers are at an early exploratory stage of identifying which digital technology may be of benefit to the Council’s planning service, a timeframe for implementation of preferred technology has yet to be adopted.

RESOLVED:

Members considered the contents of the report and noted the possible planning technology that could be adopted in future following further exploration and evaluation by officers.