Galway County Council’s Pre-Planning Enquiry System: A Practical Case Study in Digital Pre-Planning Support

Pre-planning engagement plays a critical role in improving the quality, efficiency, and consistency of planning applications submitted to local authorities. Galway County Council’s Pre-Planning Enquiry System provides a useful case study in how digital tools can support this early stage of the planning process while aligning with national best practice and operational realities. Delivered via galway.preplanning.ie, the service demonstrates how local authorities can enhance pre-application engagement without altering statutory processes or increasing administrative burden.

The Galway Pre-Planning Enquiry System allows applicants to generate a free, site-specific pre-planning report by identifying a location on an interactive map and submitting a short enquiry. The system automatically collates relevant planning datasets and returns a structured report directly to the user.

The report typically includes:

• Development plan zoning and land use objectives

• Environmental and heritage designations

• Flood risk indicators

• Key planning constraints relevant to the site

This approach helps applicants understand baseline planning considerations before progressing to a formal application or requesting a traditional pre-planning consultation. From a local authority perspective, it supports more informed engagement by ensuring that early queries are grounded in the same policy and spatial context used by planning teams.

By front-loading access to planning information, the Galway system helps:

• Reduce speculative or poorly informed enquiries

• Improve the quality of pre-planning submissions

• Set clearer expectations around development potential and constraints

• Support more focused and productive pre-planning meetings where they occur

This mirrors outcomes seen in other authorities using structured digital pre-planning tools, where early access to consistent information leads to better-prepared applicants and more efficient use of planner time.

The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) places strong emphasis on early engagement, transparency, and consistency in the planning system. Digital tools that provide clear, accessible planning information at the pre-application stage directly support these objectives. As outlined in a previous blog of digital tools that support OPR best practice, systems like Galway’s help local authorities:

• Deliver a consistent pre-planning experience

• Improve accessibility to planning information

• Encourage better-quality applications aligned with development plans and policy frameworks

By embedding these principles into a digital service, Galway County Council demonstrates how OPR guidance can be translated into practical, operational tools.

The Galway Pre-Planning Enquiry System also reflects a service model that has received national recognition elsewhere. In 2025, PrePlanning.ie, in partnership with Carlow County Council, received a national Irish Planning Award for innovation in pre-planning service delivery. That award recognised how structured, automated pre-planning tools can significantly improve the customer experience by providing clear, consistent information at an early stage, while also enhancing operational efficiency within local authorities by reducing repetitive enquiries and manual data collation. Crucially, it highlighted how these tools support evidence-based planning decisions, ensuring that pre-planning engagement is grounded in up-to-date policy, spatial data, and development plan objectives. Galway’s system applies many of the same principles, reinforcing the scalability and transferability of this approach across local authorities.

Galway County Council’s implementation highlights several practical lessons for councils considering enhancements to their pre-planning services:

• Digital pre-planning tools can complement, not replace, existing statutory processes

• Automating access to baseline planning data reduces repetitive enquiries

• Clear, early information improves the overall quality of engagement

• Alignment with OPR guidance strengthens consistency and transparency

As a case study, Galway demonstrates how local authorities can adopt structured digital pre-planning systems that are practical, policy-aligned, and focused on improving outcomes for both applicants and planning teams.

You can try the Galway Pre-Planning Enquiry Service for yourself at Galway.PrePlanning.ie. If you’re interested in exploring how your council could integrate this simple, scalable tool alongside your existing services, check out the demonstration video to learn more or call us on 056 7820020 or contact us here.