Planning for Planet

The Problem

The planning permission process in the UK requires developers to mitigate adverse effects their development plans have on nearby residents and wildlife. The preliminary design stage of planning typically requires an environmental survey of the proposed site for wildlife and environment interest which may need mitigation. Currently, it is usual for the developer to hire an Environmental Consultant or Ecologist to find a balance between law and development interests. The resulting report is made publicly accessible as part of the planning application. These reports are not easily accessible for most local residents who may be impacted by the development. The objection process consists of physical planning committee meetings which the public can attend. The residents often do not know when these meetings take place and if they do they are not always able to attend and make objections if they feel the development compromises their environment. In addition, during this time the coronavirus outbreak has had the effect of further restricting access to planning meetings.

Our Proposal

We propose to develop an online tool to provide easy to access and combine both the planning process and any recommendations from Environmental Consultants. We'll use marketing and behaviour change to empower the community and businesses to protect the natural environment, and by enabling an active part in the planning process. Our project will consist of four development stages: · Build an online presence and reach out to communities; · Develop online tools in partnership with Local Planning Authorities and community groups; · Develop new standards of environmental reporting which are machine-readable and in layman terms; · Form a not-for-profit organisation with a long term aim of keeping environmental lawyers and Environmentalists on payroll to work for communities. While we plan to base the initial developments and project trials in the UK we are seeking international collaborations, to run the project in all territories.

We Assume that...

The public will want to engage with the project and planning processes

The public would like to protect/mitigate adverse effects on their local environment

We'll provide a neutral and fact-based platform to empower the public to engage in the planning process

The public will become empowered to make connections within their community;

Increased knowledge and access to planning activities will lead to individual behavioural change

Members of the community will work together.

Constraints to Overcome

The main barrier we'll overcome is lack of information about developments and the concerns which are raised by environmental professionals. Later in the project, we hope to be able to engage environmental consultants and lawyers, typically engaged by the developers, to investigate on behalf of communities.

Current Work

Establishing the user requirements for the online tool Develop an online presence Prototyping an online platform Grant writing based on demonstratable public support

Current Needs

We require funding to create a promotional video, run focus groups to find the needs of the online tool, web development time to create an online presence and develop a prototype tool to empower the public to engage in the planning process.