New technology to enable members of the public to have their say on new developments is being piloted in Walsall starting today (21 March, 2022).
Announced by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Walsall Council has been allocated £120,000 in a second round of funding from the PropTech Engagement fund, which uses digital technology to modernises the current planning system.
According to the government press release:
“The projects include using 3D interactive maps and virtual reality to help local people better envisage proposed new developments in their communities and encourage them get more involved in planning locally.
Modernising the planning system and using digital technology will help increase community participation in local decision making, including underrepresented groups such as renters and those from black and ethnic minority groups. By empowering communities and giving local people greater say in shaping their neighbourhoods, towns and cities in this way supports the government’s efforts to level up across the country.”
Walsall Council plans to use this round of funding specifically to encourage underrepresented community voices to have their say on the regeneration of Bloxwich and Walsall Town Centre.
A pilot of the technology is due to run until September 2022.
The news arrives on the same week that Walsall Council were granted almost £8 million to improve energy efficiency on over 800 Walsall properties.