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The AI planning tool PlanAssist, developed by Google DeepMind in partnership with the UK government, will be expanded to 12 additional local planning authorities in England, bringing the total number of participants to 15. In early pilots in Barnet, Camden and Dorset, the tool cut the average time planning officers spent assessing household residential applications by 58%, and more than 70% of the generated reports were approved by officers without modification. Built on Gemini, PlanAssist verifies application materials and drawings, checks against heritage protection restrictions and local and national planning policy, reviews past objections, and drafts reports with citations, with the final decision still made by planning officers. The tool has been piloted since June and is now entering a 12-month Beta phase; if testing goes smoothly, the UK government plans to make it available to all local councils in England in 2027.
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Google DeepMind expands PlanAssist to 12 more local planning authorities
Source:Google DeepMind
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Oct 31
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Google DeepMind's PlanAssist to expand to 12 UK local planning authorities
PlanAssist, an AI planning tool developed by Google DeepMind in collaboration with the UK government, will expand to another 12 local planning authorities in England, bringing the total number of participants to 15. In early pilots in Barnet, Camden and Dorset, the tool reduced the average time planning officers spent on assessment tasks for household residential applications by 58%, and more than 70% of generated reports were approved by officers without modification. Built on Gemini, PlanAssist verifies application materials and drawings, checks against heritage protection restrictions and local and national planning policy, reviews prior objections, and drafts reports with citations, while the final decision remains with planning officers. The tool has been in pilot since June and is now entering a 12-month Beta phase; if testing goes smoothly, the UK government plans to make it available to all local councils in England in 2027.