Neighbourhood Plans
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Neighbourhood Plans
Neighbourhood Plans were introduced through the 2011 Localism Act. They’ve proved to be popular in many areas of England. The new Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill looks set to strengthen neighbourhood planning by placing a duty on local government to support groups more transparently and to improve the process for reviewing and updating plans. This level of strategic and cooperative oversight placed upon Councils – already under pressure to adopt Local Plans more quickly – plays to OpusMap’s strengths as an online tool accessible 24/7. It can help both Councils and communities work together in support of common planning policy interests and outcomes.
Benefits of using OpusMap for publishing Neighbourhood Plans
- Everything in one place: Publish both your Local Plan (or Local Plan review) and Place Plans using the same software
- Work collaboratively: set-up user permissions for both planners and Neighbourhood Plan community representatives to work collaboratively
- Easy to roll out into communities: OpusMap uses a ‘toolkit template’ approach; any Neighbourhood Plan microsite can be replicated and personalised as many times as required for as many Neighbourhood Plans as required
- Supports digital and traditional: The Neighbourhood Plan toolkit has assets and materials for social media, flyers, posters, postcards and questionnaires for online and offline engagement
- Publish pages as well as maps: CMS allows you to publish web pages as well as maps so you can add more content and media in support of a Neighbourhood Plan
- Simple comment and response system: allow residents and businesses to register and submit comments and ideas via the Neighbourhood Plan website
- Social media integration*: Use social media with your Neighbourhood Plan website to increase participation and engagement
Consultation integration**: Use our API to link maps published in OpusMap to your consultation system - Keep up-to-date and informed: Powerful analytics track user engagement to identify what messages, topics and policies are influencing opinions and decisions
- Ongoing support and maintenance: 9-5 email and telephone helpdesk and no additional costs for improvements and updates to OpusMap
*Want to know how social media can improve public participation in Place Plans? Ask us about OpusPromote, a new service for helping Councils increase digital engagement and participation.
**Don’t have a consultation system? Ask us about OpusConsult, a bilingual consultation system that supports LDP consultations