Council secures £400,000 for online planning improvements

We’re very pleased to say we have successfully bid for £400,000 from the government’s Planning Software Improvement Fund to enhance the online planning service we offer to residents.

The focus of this project will be on improving our ‘find out if you need planning permission service‘, the actual planning application process, developing an improved back office planning system in-house and looking at automated Lawful Development Certificates.

The money will be used to recruit new staff to develop the next phase of the PlanX system, which customers have already been using for some online planning services.

The bid to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was jointly put together by the Digital team with technical input from the Planning team.

Leader of Canterbury City Council, Cllr Ben Fitter-Harding, said: “PlanX is a brilliant update to our planning service that turns the often difficult-to-understand world of planning permissions on its head.

“We really wanted to help our residents and businesses understand what planning permissions they need, and what constraints such as conservation areas might be a factor, before they apply. This will help save people time and money, and result in better planning applications that are quicker to process.

“In yet another fantastic bidding success for Canterbury City Council, we’ve been awarded £400,000 to help us with this goal, and I’m thrilled that our residents and businesses will benefit directly as a result.”

Published: 2 March 2023