Digital innovation cuts local plan site assessment time by 93%

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Summary

West Oxfordshire and Cotswold District Councils carried out a pilot using PropTech solutions to transform their land assessment processes for their Local Plan development. By partnering with GoVocal and integrating LANDCLAN’s Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities, the pilot achieved significant time savings in site submission, desk top assessment and early publication stages by 93%. The project dramatically reduced officer workload by enabling digital site submissions from stakeholders, automating site assessments through integrated data analysis, and providing instant visualisation of findings through interactive mapping. This resulted in more consistent evaluations, increased transparency, and a planning process that reduced desktop assessment timeframes from 10 weeks to just 1 week.

Challenge

Both West Oxfordshire and Cotswold District Councils were at critical stages in their Local Plan development, having completed early Regulation 18 consultations and needing to progress toward identifying potential development sites. West Oxfordshire had recently conducted a call for sites exercise but it presented a series of challenges in terms of processing data and then sharing site submission assessment processes and outcomes with the public. Challenges comprised:

• Manual processing of site submissions was extremely time-consuming, with officers spending approximately 20 minutes per site to digitise site boundaries from PDFs or paper maps

• Site assessment processes lacked transparency and were labour-intensive
• Individual officer judgements were applied site-by-site using various disconnected tools
• There was a significant lag (minimum 20 weeks) between receiving site submissions and publishing information to stakeholders
• Desktop assessments required multiple officers working independently, risking inconsistent evaluations

The councils needed to improve the quality and robustness of their land assessment process while reducing officer hours required to complete it, particularly given high public interest in submitted sites and assessment outcomes.

Approach

The council teams began by researching user needs for site submissions, recognising that different stakeholders would provide information in various formats. Members of the public typically lack technical GIS data & skills, whilst professional planning agents and developers often have digital spatial information readily available.

Working with their existing consultation platform provider, the councils enhanced their system and integrated additional software that could handle spatial data and provide built-in modelling tools. This streamlined the site assessment process and helped test site suitability within defined geographic areas.

The new system allows users to upload GIS shapefiles or simply drop points and draw lines on a digital map. Automatically generated site cards provide officers with instant summaries showing whether sites face key constraints such as flood risk, landscape or heritage issues. This automation delivered immediate time and cost savings by removing the need for multiple officers to manually research constraints for each site.

These site cards can be shared across teams, ensuring consistent data feeds into other planning workstreams including spatial option testing and sustainability appraisal. Previously, officers faced significant delays preparing static maps in JPEG and PDF formats for reports. The digital tools now enable live sharing of site assessment data, supporting a more efficient and iterative approach to site assessment and plan making alongside other evidence gathering and consultation activities beyond planning.

Results

The PropTech implementation delivered significant improvements across the site assessment process.

• Site digitisation time was reduced from 20 minutes to under 5 minutes per site, assuming stakeholders submit shapefiles or accurately draw boundaries using the new tools.
• Desktop assessment timeframes dropped dramatically from 10 weeks to just 1 week, with officers now able to view site boundaries against all relevant constraints.
• A single officer can now manage processes that previously required several staff members, enabling quicker shortlisting of suitable sites for detailed assessment.
• Publication of submitted sites timeframes transformed from a minimum of 20 weeks to instantaneous sharing when required.
• Stakeholders can now submit more accurate information in standardised formats, making analysis significantly easier for council teams.

The project established a more transparent, efficient and consistent site assessment process, demonstrating how digital tools can transform planning workflows whilst improving stakeholder engagement. The councils continue working with suppliers on further enhancements, including addressing remaining challenges around bulk data downloads, to maximise the benefits of these innovations.

Chris Hargraves, Head of Planning West Oxfordshire District Council said: “Round 4 Proptech funding has allowed us to transform our whole approach to site assessment work which is such a key aspect of local plan making. In large rural areas such as West Oxfordshire and Cotswold District, a huge volume of sites are put forward for consideration and assessing their suitability for development has previously been a very labour intensive exercise. Working with our suppliers, we have been able to put in place new processes that have not only improved the quality of our assessment outputs but have shaved a huge amount of time off the process, whilst increasing transparency and engagement with our stakeholders.”

Interested in finding out more?

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