Town hall bosses hope a new digital map will get more people involved in drawing up a new long-term plan for Stockport.
The council is one of 13 across the country that will trial ‘innovative digital tools’ aimed at helping people have their say in the planning process.
It comes after it successfully bid for cash from the government’s £1m PropTech Engagement Fund - set up to boost public engagement and create a more modern planning system.
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The pilots, which will run until March 2022, also aim to encourage groups typically underrepresented in planning decisions – such as renters, young people and those from black and ethnic minority communities – to make their voices heard.
In Stockport’s case, £90,000 will be used to develop a mapping tool to bring the Local Plan to life when it goes out to public consultation- allowing people to explore and comment on specific aspects of the proposals more easily.
Bosses hope the ‘interactive, more visual approach’ will appeal to a wide audience and increase engagement - especially with younger people and those that may have had difficulties contributing to consultations in the past.
Councillor David Sedgwick, cabinet member for citizen focus and engagement has welcomed the new funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
He said: “As a council, we’re always looking at new and innovative ways of reaching people digitally and this funding will go some way in allowing people to really understand what we’re trying to achieve and get them interested in this important plan for the future of Stockport.”
The Local Plan is particularly important to Stockport as it will be the main document guiding how the borough develops over the next 15 years.
It is the only place in the city region not signed up to the Places for Everyone (PfE) masterplan - successor to the controversial Greater Manchester Spatial Framework blueprint rejected by Stockport councillors in December last year.
Town hall bosses say the plan will ‘ensure that Stockport has the right land, the right homes and the right infrastructure in the right places, for current and future generations’.
The council is required to produce the plan, which will be used to assess planning applications for new developments in Stockport over the next 15 years.
However, the rejection of the GMSF has not resolved Stockport’s planning woes - with arguments over the number of houses needed continuing to rumble on.
In August, the council’s Labour leader Elise Wilson wrote to the secretary of state over her concerns that ‘reluctance from opposition members to accept the guidance is likely to place a significant strain on the council’s ability to deliver a Local Plan by December 2023’.
A requested meeting with Robert Jenrick - who has since been replaced by Michael Gove - has not yet been forthcoming.
The PropTech Engagement Fund was launched in August 2021. Local authorities were invited to submit bids for up to £100,000 to run pilots to boost engagement in Local Plan consultations, better publicise proposed developments, or to analyse consultation responses.
Feedback from the pilots will help the government understand how best to support councils to adopt digital planning tools across the country.
