Residents in Shirebrook are being given the opportunity to imagine how any growth in the town could look via an exciting and innovative new digital planning tool.
As part of our latest consultation on the Shirebrook Growth Plan, we have made available the new masterplanning feature, which is a part of The Future Fox's PlaceBuilder platform that allows residents to get more involved in how growth proposals are developed.
Traditionally decisions about growth and plans for growth are made by professionals such as developers, architects, planners and economists, and the people who live in a place are invited to comment at the final stages of the proposals. But we want to try something different during the masterplanning consultation that has been launched and will run throughout September.
Council Leader, Councillor Steve Fritchley, said “We like to be innovative, use technology where appropriate and try new things, particularly if it can help our local communities prosper.
“Growth is one of our main priorities to help improve the District, create the jobs and homes we want and to bring investment and new services and facilities to our communities. That’s why when we started the preparation on the Shirebrook Growth Plan I wanted to give the people who live and work in Shirebrook the chance to have their say earlier than usually happens.
“This new tool will let people see what growth is available, the trade-offs they need to balance their budget and the importance of providing things you want to things that are needed. I look forward to seeing what the people of Shirebrook come up with and I’m sure they will demonstrate their creativity and show us their exciting ideas.”
The best ideas will be converted into a virtual reality display that will be presented back to the community in the Market Place in October, together with the Council’s proposals for the Market Place.
The Masterplanning Consultation Exercise on the Shirebrook Growth Plan runs from Tuesday 30 August to Friday 30 September 2022 and responses should be made through the PlaceBuilder masterplanning tool where possible. A public drop-in session will be held on Thursday 21 September at Shirebrook Leisure Centre between 4pm and 7pm and Council officers will also be available at Shirebrook Contact Centre on Thursday 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 September between 2pm and 5pm.
Beyond this, further consultation will be undertaken on the Shirebrook Growth Plan in December 2022 with the aim of adopting it in March 2023.
The PlaceBuilder masterplanning tool has been developed by The Future Fox, a technology company with a social mission to accelerate the development of smart, sustainable and people-focused places.
Annette Jezierska, CEO and Founder, The Future Fox, said, “We very often get asked by Local authorities, planners and developers about how to get the community to accept there are trade-offs in planning. This is actually a barrier from engaging their communities more. Solving for this is something we had to do to help move the debate over schemes like housing and net zero power, on from a stalemate to a collaboration with the community, which will improve decision-making and accelerate delivery. We can’t wait to see the ideas from the Shirebrook community and the discussion it catalyses.”
We are funding these new styles of consultation by using grants from the Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities’ PropTech Engagement Fund. This Fund is aimed at supporting the widespread adoption of digital citizen engagement tools and services within the planning process and we have been selected as one of the national pilot areas.
More information is available by contacting us on 01246 242203 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
About The Future Fox and PlaceBuilder
The Future Fox is a UK social impact technology SME with a vision for citizens to lead the future of their cities and places, and are the team behind PlaceBuilder. PlaceBuilder is an inclusive digital engagement platform for governments and planners to get more responses to consultations, understand their communities better than ever before, and take forward decisions with confidence. PlaceBuilder clients include HM Government, Scottish Government, Devon County Council, Lewisham Council, on schemes covering 10,000 people to 3 million.
