This briefing outlines how the continuous release policy of OpusConsult and OpusMap directly supports Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) in adapting to the evolving demands of local plan preparation, consultation, and multi-tiered policy coordination. It places these capabilities in the context of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA), and the wider Local Government Review.
Having worked with LPAs for over 20 years Blue Fox Technology and JDi Solutions - the companies behind OpusMap and OpusConsult respectively - are well versed in the need to adapt software to the changing demands of the UK’s planning system. Despite the challenges ahead, the rationale for using OpusMap and OpusConsult is very simple: empowering LPAs to communicate and engage stakeholders in their plan preparation using a web-based digital plan-making toolkit that ensures the relevant data is accessible at all times.
Context: A New Era for Local Plan-Making
Three major legislative and structural reforms are reshaping how LPAs operate:
Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA)
- Introduces a streamlined local plan structure, mandatory policies via National Development Management Policies (NDMPs), and an increased emphasis on digital planning and accessible data.
- Promotes plan transparency, data-led decision-making, and public engagement through streamlined and more accessible consultation formats.
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act (EDCEA)
- Expands powers for Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and local communities to shape spatial policy.
- Emphasises bottom-up democratic input, greater community control over local development, and stronger regional spatial strategies.
- Strengthens the role of Neighbourhood Plans by requiring closer alignment with Mayoral or Combined Authority strategies
Local Government Review (LGR)
- Drives consolidation of local plan making across county, district, and combined authorities.
- Seeks to enable better coordination between strategic and local planning while reducing duplication and increasing efficiency.
- Encourages joint plan-making and shared evidence bases across newly formed or merged councils.
Together, these reforms demand:
- Faster, more agile local plan production
- Deeper collaboration across tiers (national, regional, local, and neighbourhood)
- Digital-first consultation and engagement tools
- Stronger spatial and data integration
- Improved wider accessibility to data-based evidence
Key Challenges for LPAs
- Aligning plans across multiple authoritative plan making tiers
- Local plans must increasingly reflect regional frameworks, National Development Management Policies (NDMPs), and community-level priorities.
- Strategic coordination with MCAs, town/parish councils, and neighbouring authorities is vital.
- Running inclusive, transparent consultations
- Public and stakeholder expectations for easy-to-access, user-friendly digital consultations are rising.
- Statutory consultation processes must remain rigorous while expanding accessibility.
- Responding to policy change mid-cycle
- Local plan teams face uncertainty due to shifting guidance or devolution negotiations.
- Traditional 5-year plan cycles are giving way to more iterative, adaptive planning approaches.
- Emerging and “completed” local plan policies may need to adapt to boundary changes, NDMPs, MCA policies and Gateway assessments.
- Managing collaboration and evidence digitally
- Data, mapping, and consultation input must be integrated and updateable.
- Cross-authority working requires interoperable, shared platforms.
Any combination of these challenges will disrupt working practices and the traditional 5-year review cycle by introducing policy, governance and procedural shifts that will compel LPAs to revise or supplement their Local Plan policies ahead of schedule. There will be a greater need for flexibility and adaptability and for tools to enable, deliver and communicate the resultant changes required, efficiently and effectively.
How OpusConsult and OpusMap Support LPAs in a changing plan-making landscape
Continuous Release Policy: always up to date, always accessible
- OpusConsult and OpusMap are developed under a continuous release model, meaning new features, compliance updates, and usability improvements are deployed regularly without disruption or costly version changes.
- This ensures LPAs remain aligned with current and emerging regulations, guidance, and user needs - particularly valuable in a fast-changing legislative environment.
- It also ensures that a ‘digital first’ approach to plan-making remains aligned with whatever stage of engagement (e.g. consultation) or accessibility (collaboration with neighbouring authority) is required in the plan cycle.
- Combined with our no user limits policy and our no map or document limits policy it provides flexibility in how the software is deployed in a developing plan-making landscape.
OpusConsult - Modern Consultation for a Multi-Tiered Landscape
- Supports all consultation stages under LURA, including early stage, digitally led community engagement and a mandatory consultation stage (gateway plan)
- Enables account-based responses, with role-specific access for communities, developers, and statutory consultees.
- Provides data repositories, dashboards and export tools for collaboration with Mayors, County Authorities, and community stakeholders.
- Flexible and customisable forms adapt for Call for Sites, Neighbourhood Plan input, and community engagement aligned with devolution ambitions.
- Easy integration with OpusMap for spatially-aware policy responses.
OpusMap - Spatial Tools for Integrated Plan-Making
- Empowers LPAs to build, publish, and update interactive digital policies maps, HELAA assessments, and site registers.
- Seamlessly manages public and admin-only map views, supporting public transparency and internal plan-making simultaneously.
- Spatial data can reflect strategic layers (MCA), local policies (LPA), and neighbourhood priorities, helping LPAs meet requirements for tiered plan integration.
- Built-in tools allow for drawing, querying, assessing, and exporting spatial data - ideal for Grampian conditions, flood risk screening, or small sites analysis.
- Easy integration with OpusConsult for providing a spatial context in all consultation, engagement and communication output.
Digital Foundations for Devolved, Collaborative Planning
Requirement vs OpusConsult / OpusMap Support
Community-led plan input: Account-based, accessible online forms and map tools
Tiered coordination (national to local): Integrated mapping and consultation dashboards
Strategic engagement with MCAs or counties: Exportable datasets, site analysis tools, regional overlays
Evidence-led policy making: Spatial queries, site assessments, data visualisation
Continuous updates in response to reform: Continuous release policy with regular feature additions
Conclusion
The future of local plan-making is collaborative, digital, and dynamic. The combination of OpusConsult and OpusMap – backed by a continuous release policy (at no extra cost) – gives LPAs the confidence and capability to:
- Adapt quickly and robustly to legislative change
- Upskill planning teams rapidly with software that is fit for purpose “out of the box”
- Collaborate effectively across government tiers
- Engage stakeholders in more inclusive, accessible and transparent ways via a ‘digital first, web first’ approach
- Build and manage spatially-rich and data-led local plans fit for a devolved, empowered England
For any queries regarding your existing OpusConsult platform contact support@jdi-solutions.co.uk, or for existing OpusMap platform queries please contact david.cooper@bluefoxtech.co.uk
If you don’t currently have an OpusConsult or OpusMap license, and would like to arrange a FREE guided demo of the Opus System, contact cath.patterson@jdi-solutions.co.uk