Revolutionising consultation management
The consultation process can often feel like a box ticking exercise - public sector organisations often have a duty to consult, but getting meaningful engagement from the community can be a time consuming process. Likewise, the community can feel the same way - they can take the time to provide feedback, but how their feedback is used in the decision making process can be opaque, resulting in engagement fatigue from the very people we are trying to reach.
Often there is a disconnect between the engagement process and the information provided to decisionmakers. This creates an inability for decision makers to truly understand what the community is saying in the short space of time they have to read through results, among the many other issues they have on the table.
At Rationale we have been working with our clients to develop new ways of analysing the results of community engagement, making it easier to digest for both those seeking the feedback, and those providing it - creating more transparency for all in the consultation process.
Recently we have been employing new data driven solutions to innovate this process, most notably in the District Plan Review process.
Innovating the District Plan Review Submissions Process
Anyone who has been involved in a District Plan Review or Plan Change knows how substantial and demanding the task of managing and summarising submissions can be. It’s a process notorious for its complexity, time consumption, and susceptibility to human error, given the sheer volume of information that needs to be analysed, categorised, and aligned with various provisions, hearings, and summaries.
At Rationale Ltd, while working directly in the RMA planning space hasn’t traditionally been our core focus, we’ve always been "planning adjacent." What drives us is solving tricky problems – so when we were asked to assist with the submissions process for the Timaru District Plan Review, we jumped at the challenge.
Our client presented us with substantial PDF documents, meticulously tagged and organised by the planning team. This document, the sole summary of submissions, was cumbersome for the District Plan Review team to navigate and manipulate. The complexity wasn’t just about the volume – it stemmed from the document’s intricate formatting, including images, styled text, and nested tables, which made traditional data management tools like Excel inadequate.
Crafting an Innovative Solution
To tackle this, we took a fresh and innovative approach. Collaborating closely with the planning team, we explored their pain points and envisioned what an ideal solution might look like. From these insights, we developed a custom, interactive online dashboard tailored specifically for Timaru District Council (TDC).
Using Python and HTML, we segmented the original documents into structured tables. This data was then integrated into a business intelligence platform that enables users to interact with and explore the submissions data in various ways – whether by submitter, hearing, provision, submission phase, or keywords.
During development, we worked iteratively with TDC, incorporating feedback and refining the platform. As the hearing process progressed, we enhanced the dashboard with additional features. One standout capability is the analysis of s42A reports – the platform can analyse these reports and cross-check against allocation of submission points, ensuring documents cover the content they should. Additionally, the platform can be used to generate new word documents containing different subsets of the original submission contents.
The result is a user-friendly platform that has revolutionised how the Timaru District Plan Review team engages with submissions data. The ease of use, combined with its powerful filtering capabilities, has made a significant difference in managing a traditionally cumbersome process.
Aaron Hakkaart, Planning Manager – District Plan Review at TDC was delighted with the result. “When I approached Rationale I wasn’t actually sure there was a realistic solution. What Ben and the team at Rationale produced blew me away – in my view it has set the standard for how RMA submissions should be presented to the community and analysed by Councils teams, and this is a step change for our industry.”
Above dashboard best viewed in a new window by clicking the icon in the bottom right corner.
Expanding Success with Mackenzie District Council
On the back of this success, Rationale was approached by Mackenzie District Council to develop a similar solution for their District Plan Review submissions process. Leveraging the lessons learned from TDC’s project, we not only replicated the core functionality but also enhanced the front-end submission process, enabling better sorting and summaries from the outset.
For Mackenzie, we introduced additional features, including a custom AI assistant. This tool empowers users to query the submissions data in natural language, dramatically improving how the information is accessed and understood. This AI capability isn’t just a one-off – it represents the beginning of a broader application of this technology in the submissions process. From ingestion and tagging to intelligent summarisation, we have prototypes that we can apply to suit a wide range of client requirements.
Lisa Thorne, Partner at Taylor planning was equally impressed with the word produced. "Large and complex summaries of submissions are not straight forward for communities and decision makers to navigate. After using the tool that Ben and the Rationale team developed for the Timaru plan review process, it was a no brainer to get them involved with how we could make the submissions summaries for Stage Four of the Mackenzie District Plan Review more helpful for decision makers. The solution Rationale provided us has saved us time, and by getting them involved early, we were able to build in considerably more functionality. I’d recommend this for anyone working through a complex plan change or district plan review."
Above dashboard best viewed in a new window by clicking the icon in the bottom right corner.
Setting a New Standard
Both of these digital solutions have saved the respective Planning Teams considerable time and resources. The positive feedback from hearing panels has been resounding, with many acknowledging these tools as setting a new benchmark for RMA submission management.
Beyond District Plan Reviews, these tools have far-reaching applications. Whether managing resource consents, consolidating community engagement results, or handling any data-intensive process that exceeds the capabilities of a spreadsheet, our team can help with practical and cost-effective solutions.
If you think something like this could help you or your organisation, we’d love to hear from you. We’re a friendly bunch at Rationale, and we are always keen to chat about how we can solve complex problems together.
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