The Open Digital Planning (ODP) group has outlined plans for the technical development of the PlanX content management system for local authorities.
ODP – a community of council officers and digital experts – is developing the open source PlanX as one of the products funded by the Planning Software Improvement Fund as part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communties’ Open Digital Planning project.
After receiving funding in March of last year, it is now developing a product roadmap and has listed a number of features to be included in the system.
These include automatic identification of adjoining properties and an ability to save answers across services. It is also working on a function to log in with Microsoft ID, a demo space for ODP partners, in-editor search capabilities, undo buttons for reversing changes and live buttons.
Supporting processes
The system is being designed for a number of processes, including applying for planning permission for minor and major projects, applying for listed building consent and submitting details required by a condition.
The group is also talking with back office system providers to develop and test a direct integration with PlanX.
“To ensure the continued success and sustainability of PlanX, we're doubling down on efforts to further define our commercial model, governance structure, and long term sustainability strategy,” ODP said, adding that it plans a series of roadshows and council visits.
