What data and evidence is needed to plan strategically and effect real change in your area?
The work of the Strategic Planning Group continues into 2025, pressing onward with topic-led sessions. In the year that the government embarks on significant legislative changes to enable the delivery of Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs), discussions with the Group have continued to highlight the critical role of new Strategic Authorities in setting clear spatial priorities to support the delivery of high-quality homes, sustainable infrastructure, regeneration, and high-quality skills and jobs.
Our third topic-led session focused on ‘Exploring the Evidence Base,’ with discussions emphasizing the importance of robust and integrated data in shaping effective, long-term SDSs. Key priorities emerging from this workshop included:
– Using evidence to test visions and strategic ambitions to deliver SDSs that are justified, reasonable, and effective;
– Cross-cutting evidence that efficiently and effectively “slots into” the Local Plan process, ensuring consistency and securing buy-in from stakeholders across SDS geographies;
– Synthesis of place-based evidence that distinguishes the truly strategic from the local, balancing evidence that informs immediate priorities with evidence that inspires vision and future drivers for growth;
– Driving efficiency, insight, and transparency from data, with a renewed focus on digital planning and a systematic approach to updating plans.
We’d like to hear your thoughts – how would you design an effective strategic planning evidence base to drive real change in your area?
