During my many years developing and running websites the overriding aim has been make sure that any visitors can get the information they require as quickly and as easily as possible. Sadly this simple premise is not being adopted by the new GOV.UK website which seems to delight in hiding information in obscure locations.
The previous Communities & Local Government website was a model of clarity in comparison. At least when you logged in to the planning section you could see all the relevant details in one place. Now, information appears to be distributed around the site in a format designed to obscure.
For example, the original 'Letters to Chief Planning Officer's' section (see previous blog) is now located under housing and local services / planning officer guidance in a box at the bottom of the page entitled "Additional detailed guidance from Government Departments".
I'm reminded of that wonderful speech at the beginning of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Mr Prosser is advising Arthur Dent of the location of the planning application for the new bypass and he responds, "It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'beware of the leopard'. Ever thought of going into advertising?"
If you want individual Circulars or Regulations then you need to go via the search engine or the Publications pages to discover them individually. They do not appear to be listed as a group as previously.
Ah ha I hear you say the search engine must be fantastic. Sadly not. In trying to find those wonderful letters to chief planning officer's I typed that into the search engine (and various combinations) to receive 147 results, none of which were relevant. Having by this time lost the will to live I reverted to Google and tripped over the new page accordingly.
Yes, yes, I know. Get a life!
The main GOV.UK page does not refer to planning at all. You'll need to go to Topics for that (scroll down to the bottom of the page in the grey area). The main planning page is now at:
...and don't forget to leave your browsing history live so that your back button can get you into previous searches as this is not available as a quick link on many of the sections.
If you do require access to any sort of planning information and prefer not to waste valuable breathing time chasing down documents within this new website then do check out my planning library at:
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