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Local plan delivery at scale through local government reorganisation

James Campbell, Principal Planning Policy and Place Officer at North Yorkshire Council, shares lessons from maintaining local plan momentum during LGR.

Delivering Local Plans at Scale During Local Government Reorganisation

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) resulted in the formation of North Yorkshire Council - now one of England’s largest unitary authorities - bringing together seven former district councils and the county council.

For the planning policy team, the key challenge was maintaining momentum to complete the existing local plans inherited from the former councils, while simultaneously beginning work on a new, unified local plan. This had to be achieved alongside significant organisational change, new governance arrangements, and the increased scale and complexity of the authority.

North Yorkshire Council’s experience shows how clear priorities, pragmatic decision-making, and effective digital tools can support continuity and confidence during a complex merger.

Maintaining momentum during organisational change

A key benefit for North Yorkshire Council was the ability to continue plan-making activity throughout the transition. Several former district councils were already using Objective Keyplan, which provided a familiar and proven foundation for planning policy management. This continuity was particularly valuable while new structures and processes were being established: the council avoided delays, enabled planning officers to remain focused on statutory outcomes, and supported consolidation of all the necessary documents into one system.

Scaling up consultation across a unitary authority

LGR significantly increased the scale of consultation, both geographically and in terms of response volumes. Moving from district-level plans to a single county-wide local plan required more structured and efficient engagement processes.

Using Objective Keyplan, North Yorkshire Council consolidated statutory consultees and key organisations into a single, up-to-date database with clear consent and governance arrangements. While time intensive, this work created a stronger foundation for future engagement.

This approach helped the council manage higher volumes of representations while maintaining transparency and consistency.

“The increase in consultation responses for a merged authority is substantial, and the scale of that step change shouldn’t be underestimated.”

James Campbell, Principal Planning Policy and Place Officer at North Yorkshire Council

A pragmatic approach to legacy plans

Rather than attempting to migrate large volumes of historic data, North Yorkshire Council adopted a pragmatic transition strategy. Plans that were already well advanced continued within their existing Objective Keyplan environments, while the new North Yorkshire local plan was developed within a clean, consolidated system.

This reduced complexity and risk, allowing teams to focus on delivery rather than system change.

Supporting teams and new ways of working

LGR brought together planning policy teams with different levels of experience and familiarity with digital plan-making tools. Objective Keyplan supported the creation of a shared way of working, helping align processes and build consistency across the new organisation.

Clear onboarding, shared tools, and consistent processes helped support collaboration during a period of change.

Lessons for other councils

North Yorkshire Council’s experience demonstrates that LGR is a long-term process, and that early decisions about systems and workflows can have lasting benefits. By prioritising continuity, scalability, and clarity, the council was able to maintain momentum on local plan delivery while adapting to a new organisational reality.

For councils preparing for mergers, the key lesson is clear: combining realistic expectations with robust digital tools can make a significant difference to successful outcomes.

“Getting the right processes in place is critical, and having a solution like Keyplan is absolutely essential as you move into the new way of working.”