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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is giving members of the public the opportunity to trial new technologies that will help them comment on how communities are shaped in the future.
The government has committed £3.25 million from the Proptech Engagement Fund to trial new digital tools to make the planning system more engaging and accessible to residents. Ideas being trialled by local authorities across the country include the use of 3D interactive mapping and virtual reality as a means to encourage local communities to better understand and take informed action on planning in their area.
The DLUHC hopes that modernising the planning process will help to improve community participation in decision making, particularly among underrepresented groups including renters and ethnic minority communities.
Minister for Housing, Stuart Andrew said:
“We need a modernised planning system which fully embraces digital technology to create places in which people take real pride.
“By bringing the planning system up to date with the latest methods, we are ensuring that communities can have more of a say on the development of their town, city or neighbourhood.”
Pilot programmes are being tested in 28 local authorities across England, and will run until September 2022. The schemes will inform how DLUHC establishes new best practices for digital tools in the planning process that will see innovative proptech tools rolled out to local authorities nationwide.