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Milton Keynes began their PlaceMaker journey in January 2023 after completing a Call for Sites consultation and extensive internal effort to proactively identify potential development areas. With over 700 sites to assess, the process was initially slow and resource-intensive, requiring months of manual work and GIS analysis across the planning team. "We didn't think we needed a platform" admits James Williamson (Monitoring and Implementation Team Leader) , "but we were beginning to worry about how we were going to get through the whole site assessment process." That’s when James and his team discovered PlaceMaker. They quickly recognised how the software could streamline their workload, drastically reducing the time required for assessments.
Milton Keynes, the biggest 'new town' of its generation, was designed in 1967 with an original target population of 250,000. Now, it’s on track to exceed 400,000 residents by 2050. Planning for this rapid growth, Milton Keynes Council is developing an ambitious vision for the next 25 years through its new local plan, MK City Plan 2050. Technology, including PlaceMaker, plays a critical role in preparing for and delivering this growth, from scenario testing to anticipating changing needs from local communities and consulting with the public.
Since adopting PlaceMaker, the council has significantly accelerated its local plan process.
"The software has easily halved the time for site assessments" James confirms.
This efficiency allowed just two officers to oversee assessments, freeing others to remain focussed on their specialist areas, ensuring that the team stayed on track to meet their consultation timelines.
PlaceMaker also enhanced consistency across the team. "We can say every site has been assessed against identical criteria - that's really positive for us" James explains. This uniformity strengthens the quality and transparency of their decision-making, a key benefit for the team.
In addition to streamlining their work, PlaceMaker has become a central hub for collaboration. Colleagues from ecology, archaeology, highways, and conservation all contribute to the Land Availability Assessment (LAA) via the platform, inputting comments and data directly. Urban Design colleagues also use the platform to look at specific site details when considering their work. The unlimited seats within a PlaceMaker license encourages collaboration across departments, creating a single version of the truth.
PlaceMaker's scenario testing capabilities have also unlocked new possibilities for Milton Keynes. "It helps us think outside the box" James says.
From exploring increased densities to planning rapid transit routes and analysing open space, the team can now model future scenarios with confidence, backing innovative ideas with robust data.
Milton Keynes have embraced every element of PlaceMaker, especially its public consultation features in the Doc Builder module. The platform played a central role in the LAA, from conducting assessments to publishing interactive, mobile-friendly reports. The council hosts its full LAA report (one of the largest documents made in PlaceMaker to date) as well as the council's Reg 18 consultation within PlaceMaker, engaging the public with the use of dynamic tables, interactive maps and embedded consultation questions to tell the story of MK City Plan 2050.
PlaceMaker's interactive maps have also enhanced in-person consultation events. Residents and stakeholders can explore maps and site details in real-time, deepening their understanding of the council’s decisions. In one pre-Reg 18 conference, attendees could submit live comments via a QR code, directing delegates to PlaceMaker’s interactive tools. At community consultation events residents were able to sit down with officers and look through the map layers to understand the rationale behind certain assessments and decisions. Visualising data to engage the public is just one of the ways in which the council are using PlaceMaker to increase transparency and public buy-in to the city's ambitious plans for the future.
As Milton Keynes' Reg 18 consultation wraps up, the council is preparing to review the public's input and revise evidence bases as needed, in line with the updated national planning policy framework. PlaceMaker will continue to support this evolving process, proving itself as a valuable tool throughout every stage of the local plan and enabling council's to adapt to new planning policies and requirements.
If you'd like to discover the opportunities PlaceMaker could unlock for your local plan making, get in touch with the team today and book a demo to see the platform in action. You can also watch Milton Keynes share their PlaceMaker story in 'How tech is changing Local Plan making' webinar, hosted by The Planner on 22 October 2024.
