US techie builds 'plain English' local plan website

A self-confessed American "tech nerd" has created a website designed to make it easier for people to explore and comment on a county's local plan.

Sean Brannon, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, said he designed the online site in an hour while travelling on a train.

He said it was difficult to navigate the official consultation site, and people have to overcome "too many barriers" to comment on the plan.

Buckinghamshire Council said only the responses entered on its official portal would be considered.

When he was returning home on the train from a day out at London Zoo, Brannon was scrolling through his phone when he came across a newspaper article that said time was running out to comment on the Buckinghamshire Local Plan, which will be closed to responses after 6 September.

The 42-year-old web designer was surprised to read that this document would shape land use, housing provision and economic development in his county for 20 years - but he had never heard of it before.

He said: "There was no newsletter, nothing came through the door, no text message, no county council letter saying, 'Here's what we're trying to do, we'd love to hear what you think.'

"I was completely floored that I didn't understand what was happening."

He found the official consultation site and discovered the document was 450 pages long, adding: "I couldn't search it, I couldn't see where the main themes were."

He spent the next hour of his train journey creating a more user-friendly consultation site that broke the plan down into different themes, such as housing, jobs and flooding.

He said the official site was in "policy language [so] we've written a human version, where you get a one-paragraph summary of what's actually covered" in each section.

Users can then click on issues they are interested in to see the full text from the official plan.

Individual responses can then be entered on the site, and the system creates an email from them, which can be sent to councillors and planning officials.

Users should then also enter their responses on the official portal where, according to Brannon, "things break down - we have to go find every single chapter and verse and then click the comment button on every single one of them, which seems very prohibitive to people".

"If I had to click 'comment' on 20 of these, I'm going to get real bored, real fast," he added.

He said there was a different approach to drafting local plans in the US.

"The consultation period runs for years, includes open meetings, and we have to meet with our councillors," he explained.

"They get industry expertise, they talk to developers and the public - we know what money is being spent and where."

Peter Strachan, Buckinghamshire Council's cabinet member for planning, said the authority welcomed community interest and engagement in the authority's local plan.

He added: "To clarify - this is not a Buckinghamshire Council website, the council does not own or operate it, and we have not verified the information it contains.

"Residents, businesses and stakeholders can access the full local plan consultation and all supporting information on the Buckinghamshire Council website.

"We would encourage anyone wishing to comment on the local plan to review the consultation materials available on our website and submit their views through the official Regulation 19 consultation process.

"Only representations received through the formal Regulation 19 consultation can be considered and submitted to the Planning Inspectorate as part of the examination process.

"The consultation remains open until 6 September, and we encourage everyone with an interest in Buckinghamshire's future growth and development to take the opportunity to have their say."

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