A groundbreaking new AI tool developed by researchers at the University of Liverpool is set to revolutionise the way public consultations are handled in the planning sector, potentially offering significant benefits for property development across the UK, including London’s bustling market.
PlanAI, funded by the Government’s PropTech Innovation Fund, can summarise thousands of pages of public consultation responses in mere minutes, drastically cutting the time and resources traditionally required by human planners. Developed in collaboration with Greater Cambridge Shared Planning – the shared service for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District councils – the tool has already demonstrated impressive results in real-world trials.
Trial success taking from 18.5 hours to 16 minutes
The AI was tested on three live planning consultations concerning guidance documents for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Planning Obligations, and Health Impact Assessments. In a striking comparison, PlanAI produced detailed summaries of every individual submission and a comprehensive report for all three consultations in just 16 minutes.
By contrast, human planners spent over 60 hours logging and summarising the 320 public submissions, with more than 18 hours dedicated solely to creating summaries. Additional time would have been needed if planners had to generate an overview analysis, a task PlanAI handles effortlessly. Importantly, the project team noted no noticeable differences in quality between the AI-generated summaries and those produced by humans. The AI reports even included descriptive statistics and analytical insights, providing a clear, data-driven overview of the submissions’ content and themes.
PlanAI was created by Professors Alex Lord, Alex Singleton, and Dr Mark Green from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Geography & Planning, in close partnership with the Planning Policy and Strategy team at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning. This collaboration ensured the tool’s outputs align with how councils currently report back to communities and elected members.
Professor Alexander Lord, Lever Chair at the University of Liverpool, explained: “The PlanAI tool harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to do what it does best – to read large volumes of text, summarise them, and identify patterns across submissions. While the GCSP planners will still read each submission when responding to them and making decisions, the tool can free up planners’ time to focus on the technical aspects of plan making.”
Public consultation is a legal requirement in UK planning, and community participation is vital, particularly given the strong local interest in property and development issues. However, local authorities often grapple with overwhelming volumes of feedback, from brief notes to submissions exceeding 100 pages.
Professor Lord added: “By streamlining the analysis process, PlanAI could allow planning departments to engage the public more frequently and thoroughly on a wider range of issues. This opens the door to more inclusive and democratic planning processes, without compromising the quality or depth of engagement.”
Cllr Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, commented: “Our Shared Planning service is one of the first local authorities in the UK to commission its own bespoke AI tool, as we work to provide more reliable and meaningful insights into what our local communities think about proposed developments and planning policies. The new tool is already saving planners a substantial amount of time, freeing them up from administrative tasks to focus their time where their expertise is in high demand.”
Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Cabinet Member for Planning, Building Control and Infrastructure at Cambridge City Council, said: “Ultimately, the new tool could help us make more informed and more efficient decisions, whilst ensuring that the views of local communities continue to play a key role in helping to shape the new Local Plan and other planning documents. We know that AI needs to be deployed carefully and responsibly, but this initiative is a step forward in using this important technology in an appropriate way to help create a more efficient planning system that listens to and serves the needs of the community and can take proper account of people’s views.”
While trialled in Cambridge, the implications of PlanAI extend far beyond, offering potential efficiencies for London’s property developers and planners who often face similar challenges with high volumes of public input on major projects. As the UK property market continues to evolve, tools like PlanAI could pave the way for faster, more responsive decision-making, ultimately benefiting investors, developers, and communities alike.