Last week saw key players of the real estate and infrastructure industry come together in Leeds to discuss market trends and explore investment opportunities as part of UKREiiF.

On Wednesday morning, I was fortunate enough to share a platform with representatives from Urban Intelligence, Birmingham and Newcastle City Councils. The discussion was focused on the opportunities surrounding digital planning, with panellists questioned on their experience of being an early adopter of emerging technologies.

To put the conversation into context, some recent statistics released by the RTPI noted that a quarter of planners left the profession between 2013-2020 and that 82% of Local Authorities were quoted as having serious recruitment difficulties in the last 12 months. Undeniably, a bleak picture.

Therefore, if digital solutions to the current resourcing crisis do exist, we felt they certainly warranted our consideration that morning.

Having listened to the other speakers, it was clear there were many benefits of a digital roll-out, saving time, money and delivering greater outcomes at scale. However, I thought it would be interesting to flip the conversation and examine digital planning through the lens of engagement.

We have all seen numerous Local Authorities spend many years (and eye watering sums) producing Local Plans. Sadly, many fall at the final hurdle, fatally wounded by their own Elected Members who don’t feel engaged enough to take sufficient ownership. However, if we can use digital tools to expediate the Local Plan process, using dynamic data to simultaneously test multiple options, then more resourcing should technically become available. Rather than seeing this simply as a financial saving and cost cutting exercise, we must reinvest resources into quality engagement to avoid such fatal blows and de-risk projects.

For Iceni, the benefit of digital planning lies in the potential to unlock time, enabling us to build relationships, work with communities, understand concerns and aspirations. Deep diving not just into the algorithms, but into the views of, and opportunities for, local communities.

In the Engagement and Place team we’ve found when this approach is adopted, it generally delivers much better results for all parties involved; empowering communities, enriching decisions and expediating processes.

In supporting West Berkshire District Council with their 2050 vision, we helped reach 2,500 members of the local community. Not an easy feat when talking about a 30-year timeframe.

In Southwest Hertfordshire, we reached as many under 25s as over 65s in relation to their Joint Strategic Plan engagement, freeing up time to support youth engagement.

We’re also working differently with the private sector too, undertaking school workshops linked to the curriculum, helping to develop community wealth strategies and support careers insights.

The golden thread combining all of the above projects, is the use of technology in the right context, at the right time, on issues that matter to people, reaching those who wouldn’t ordinarily comment.

If you’d like to hear more about the opportunities surrounding digital planning and active engagement, do get in touch.