Northumberland County Council, geographically the largest in England, has implemented a solution for its Strategic Planning department utilising Objective Corporation’s Limehouse solution.

The County Council, formed in April 2009, faced the unique challenge of bringing together seven disparate document creation and consultation systems forged from the combining of the historic county council and the six District Councils of Blyth Valley, Wansbeck, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Gordon Halliday, Head of Strategic Planning at Northumberland stated: “We faced a complex dilemma. Did we migrate to one of the existing systems, and attempt to merge all historic planning data and processes into the one system? Or take the long-term decision to bring in a best-of-breed solution that would move us forward in terms of collaborative working?

"The answer was clear. We needed a solution that could deliver a potentially organisation-wide service, which would enable secure, collaborative workgroups across a highly dispersed
environment and not just in Planning.”

Northumberland was also impressed by the usability and flexibility of the Limehouse solution and were reassured by its reputation with more than 200 customers in the local government planning and public consultation sectors.

Today it has successfully installed the Limehouse uCreate and uEngage solutions to deliver a suite of statutory documents required for both public consultation and creation including the County’s day-to-day planning applications. A wider rollout is being planned for managing Future Strategic Plans in areas such as transport and housing as well its Local Development Framework.

Simon Etherington, UK General Manager of Objective Corporation said: “We are committed to helping local authorities streamline their document production processes, improve efficiencies and reduce costs. With both uEngage and uCreate, Northumberland now has a unified system for its Strategic Planning department where it can actively engage with its stakeholders and citizens. The Limehouse solution has delivered not only substantial cost savings, but is set to deliver improved democratic access and accountability.”