Wandsworth excels in local authority website survey
Wandsworth has come top in a new survey of 354 local authority planning websites carried out by p lanning consultants Peter Pendleton Associates (PPA).
The study, which is carried out for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), rates councils on the full range of online planning services. The websites were assessed against 21 criteria, chosen to reflect online planning information and services deemed most useful to web-users. Categories include ease of access and availability of online decisions and planning conditions as well as the ability to make applications and comments online.
For the second time Wandsworth satisfied all 21 criteria. Two district councils - Bracknell Forest and Hastings - also joined the council this year with a 100 per cent record, but Wandsworth is the only authority to have scored the maximum 21 points in each of the last two surveys.
The survey found that only 23 per cent of sites allowed users to view drawings and documents attached to applications electronically while just 21 per cent made it possible for applicants to track progress on their application online.
One in five councils published decision notices on line while one in three now offered a facility for online applications. Wandsworth has been offering online applications since May 2002.
Wandsworth's planning applications chairman Ravi Govindia said""We try to make the website accessible for all types of user. It is more than just publishing the information - it is important that users are able to find it easily on the site.
"The survey shows that many councils still have a long way to go with only a little more than half having improved since September 2004."
Wandsworth is currently working with the ODPM to extend the range of planning-related services which can be offered online through the PARSOL (Planning and Regulatory Services Online) Local-eGov National Project. The £4.5m project has provided a range of services, standards and toolkits to help councils across the country improve their licensing, building control, trading standards, environmental health and planning services.
Wandsworth's planning website was the first of its kind in the country when it was launched in 1996. It contains full details of all current applications, including access to plans and drawings dating back to 1997 and all decisions since the second world war.
July 29, 2005
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