How Carlow County Council Are Transforming Pre-Planning — And How You Can Too
Pre-planning consultations are one of the most important and often overlooked parts of the planning process. For applicants, they offer crucial early advice. For planners, they provide an opportunity to guide better development outcomes and flag potential issues before a formal application is lodged.
But like many councils, Carlow County Council recognised that their pre-planning service needed modernisation. Demand was rising, the complexity of data sources was increasing, and both planners and applicants were spending too much time trying to pull together information from multiple systems.
Rather than waiting for a major system overhaul or adding new layers of administration, Carlow took a smart, focused approach: they built a tailored, web-based pre-planning reporting service that’s saving time, improving consultations, and delivering better results for everyone involved.
What is the Carlow Pre-Planning Enquiry Service?
At its core, the Carlow Pre-Planning Enquiry Service is a simple but powerful online tool. Members of the public, planning agents, and council staff can log on at Carlow.PrePlanning.ie and generate a detailed planning constraints report for any site in County Carlow.
You just enter a report title, pick your site on an interactive map, and add an email address. Within 30 seconds, the system queries over 50 GIS layers and generates a comprehensive report via a permanent, shareable web link.
What Does the Report Include?
The pre-planning report covers:
- Zoning designations
- Planning history summaries
- Flood zones
- Protected structures
- Natura 2000 sites
- Environmental and infrastructural constraints
"Both the applicant and the Council planner can access the same report in advance of a pre-planning clinic, meaning everyone arrives better informed, better prepared, and ready to have a focused, productive discussion."
What Impact Has It Made?
Since its launch in 2022, the platform has:
- Generated over 3,700 reports
- Reduced the time planners spend preparing for consultations
- Made the pre-planning process more accessible for applicants, including individuals and community groups
- Ensured consistent, site-specific, data-driven advice is provided at every consultation
Planners can instantly access all relevant constraints for a site, while applicants arrive with a clear, easy-to-understand report outlining key issues. This has led to faster meetings, fewer surprises, and better planning outcomes. So much so that Galway County Council were impressed enough with the Carlow Pre-planning Enquiry System that they decided to replicate the service for their public and planning staff audiences.
Why It Works:
- It didn’t replace existing processes — it enhanced them.
The clinics still run as they always did. This tool just ensures both sides are better prepared. - It saves time for both applicants and planners.
No more chasing down maps, zoning documents, or old planning files before a clinic. - It’s public and transparent.
Anyone can run a report, levelling the playing field for individuals and community groups. - It’s instantly updatable.
New Local Area Plans and policy layers are loaded into the system the moment they’re adopted.
See It in Action:
You can try the Carlow Pre-Planning Enquiry Service for yourself at Carlow.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.