Location plan feature

Planning Portal has changed the way sites are identified and shared with local planning authorities

Aligning with our continued efforts to reduce invalidation, we are excited to provide details on the latest feature to be introduced into the Planning Portal; embedding a location plan creator into the application service.
The location plan feature, launched on 2 May 2023, is available to use for all online planning applications in England that are made on Planning Portal and require a location plan.
Watch our walk-through demonstration below.

A consistent, national approach 

By introducing this feature to Planning Portal, everyone benefits from a consistent process.

For users - they can draw the site boundary as part of their application journey on Planning Portal using our simple tool - saving time and therefore money, on each application, or upload their own file. As an additional benefit, planning professionals can retrieve a copy of their location plan as a PDF or data file, for uploading directly into their own systems.

Local planning authorities - receive information in a standard way for each application, which is checked against legislative criteria - reducing the likelihood of an invalid location plan. The method also reduces the manual effort involved in re-plotting the site location, and the user’s process is the same for every application, regardless of which local authority receives it. We know from our experience, and the introduction of our payment service specifically, that this standardised approach brings greater efficiencies for all. 

Browse our location plan feature FAQs ^{(https://www.planningportal.co.uk/services/help/faq/applications/site-boundary-and-location-plan)}

Read our guidance on drawing a site boundary and creating a location plan ^{(https://www.planningportal.co.uk/services/help/location-plan-feature)}

Application journey

Have you ever wondered what happens to your application after you click 'Submit'?
Watch our animation to show the journey from creating your application on the Planning Portal, to local authority processing.

Watch the application journey¹

Read our related blog posts

• Successful launch of the location plan feature²
• Answering your questions about the location plan feature³
• See the location plan feature in action⁴
• Addressing invalidation due to location plan errors⁵
• Spotlight on… our work to continue reducing invalid applications⁶
• Continuing improvements to the Planning Portal in 2023⁷

1. https://youtu.be/RgLn7u150o0
2. https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/05/11/successful-launch-of-the-location-plan-feature/
3. https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/04/27/answering-your-questions-about-the-location-plan-feature/
4. https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/04/13/see-the-location-plan-feature-in-action/
5. https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/03/30/addressing-invalidation-due-to-location-plan-errors/
6. https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/03/16/spotlight-on-our-work-to-continue-reducing-invalid-applications/
7. https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/03/02/continuing-improvements-to-the-planning-portal-in-2023/