ConsultOnline blog
Ideas for better planning consultation
Insights on public consultation, community engagement and planning communications.
From newsreels to networks
How public communication changed since the 1940s and why it matters for new towns now. From shared national stories to fragmented networks, AI-generated objections and the new demands this places on planning communications.
Protecting consultation integrity: how we prevent spam and fake responses
ConsultOnline provides configurable verification, anti-bot controls and access settings that can help teams reduce automated or ineligible submissions and review consultation response integrity.
Virtual public exhibitions for planning: how to replace the village hall
Public exhibitions are a staple of planning consultation, but they are expensive, time-limited and exclude anyone who cannot attend. Virtual exhibitions offer a better alternative \u2014 here is how they work and why they produce better engagement.
Real-time analytics: knowing whether your consultation is actually working
Most consultation teams only discover how well their consultation performed after it closes. ConsultOnline's real-time dashboards change that \u2014 giving you the insight to adjust your approach while there is still time to make a difference.
AI-powered objections are here: how should the planning and development sector respond?
The same technologies that make consultation more accessible can also automate objection. Planning promoters need to respond by making consultation easier to engage with, harder to manipulate and more transparent.
Online public consultation: a complete guide for UK planning teams
A practical guide to running online public consultations for planning applications in the UK \u2014 covering platform options, engagement strategies, legal considerations and how to produce consultation evidence that planning authorities take seriously.
How we built interactive maps for planning consultations
Interactive maps are one of ConsultOnline's most requested features. Here is a look at the technical decisions behind our pin-drop feedback system and how we made complex planning proposals easier for communities to understand.
What makes a strong Statement of Community Involvement? A practical guide
A Statement of Community Involvement can make or break a planning application. Here is what planning authorities are looking for, common mistakes that weaken your SCI and how digital consultation tools can help you produce stronger evidence of genuine engagement.
Building accessible consultation tools: more than just compliance
Accessibility in public consultation is not just about WCAG standards. Here is how ConsultOnline 2.0 is designed to support more inclusive participation, alongside the work consultation organisers still need to do.
Introducing ConsultOnline 2.0: why we rebuilt our consultation platform from scratch
After more than a decade of the original ConsultOnline, we made the decision to start again from the ground up. Here is why we rebuilt the platform, what is new in 2.0 and how it changes what is possible for planning consultation.
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Addressing common challenges in consultation
Opposing factors and risks are common to public participation: the very notion that developers bring change to established local communities; the wide-ranging views which exist within a community; the sentiment of those wary of engagement and exponents of it. Significant time and financial resources are expended with no guarantee that the investment will be realised, ...
Community relations during construction – working effectively with residents
There are many different facets to community relations during construction which will be addressed in later blogs. This first blog on the subject concerns the vital role of resident liaison. It goes without saying that local residents will be more positively engaged with a development team and less critical of it if their locality is ...