National Data, Local Impact: How PrePlanning.ie Works Beyond a Single Council

Planning authorities across Ireland are working to improve service delivery, manage workloads, and enhance public engagement all while responding to ever-evolving policy and regulatory demands. At PrePlanning.ie, we believe that digital tools should support these efforts, not complicate them. While planning decisions happen at the local level, the data that informs them is national spanning policy zones, environmental constraints, and infrastructure layers that don’t stop at county boundaries. That’s why PrePlanning.ie is built to work across all planning authorities, using national datasets and automated intelligence to deliver consistent, high-quality insights, no matter the location.

Planning data is more than just local development plans. It includes a broad spectrum of national datasets that are critical to informed decision-making:

• Zoning and land-use policies from local and regional plans
• National roads and infrastructure networks
• Flood risk and waterbody overlays from OPW and the EPA
• Environmental constraints such as Natura 2000 sites, NHAs, and landscape sensitivities
• Protected structures, archaeological zones, and more

PrePlanning.ie consolidates these sources from Ordnance Survey Ireland, NPWS, EPA, Irish Water, and others to generate reports that reflect national context, local relevance.

Each local authority manages its own planning functions, but planning activity often spans multiple jurisdictions especially in areas like:

• Rural housing near county borders
• Renewable energy site selection
• Strategic housing and infrastructure planning
• Cross-county transport or water projects

By using nationally consistent logic and data, PrePlanning.ie enables applicants and planners to assess sites consistently across counties ensuring everyone starts with the same evidence base, regardless of location.

A fully branded, cloud-hosted pre-planning service that saves planners time, empowers the public, and enhances decision-making with powerful geospatial tools.

• Time Saver for Planners: Instantly generate detailed reports with 50+ GIS data layers.

• Built-in AA Screening: Auto-generated AA Screening reports with 15km buffers around SPA and SAC sites.

• Public Participation: Free, self-service reports for the public. Improve engagement without increasing workload.

• Your Council's Branding: Custom logos, styles, disclaimers, and terms all under your official identity.

• Secure Staff Access: Give planners access to draft datasets or sensitive layers via a protected login area.

• Professional, Printable Reports: Easily print or export branded reports to PDF for pre planning clinics.

• 3D Shadow Analysis Tool: Visualise seasonal shadow impacts with interactive 3D mapping.

Carlow County Council is already using PrePlanning.ie to enhance its pre-planning enquiry service a project that has earned national recognition for its innovative, research-based design. By adopting our system, Carlow streamlined its pre-planning workflow and provided a better, faster service to both applicants and planners. And the best part? No internal system changes were needed  just a smarter way to support applicants from the start.

Whether you're looking to:

• Improve the quality of site submissions with clear, data-rich reports from the outset.

• Save time by eliminating manual map searches and repetitive data gathering.

• Enhance consistency across your planning team with standardised, planner-informed reports.

• Increase the efficiency of pre-planning clinics by enabling better preparation and more focused consultations.

• Future-proof your service by aligning with digitalisation goals and OPR-led best practices.

PrePlanning.ie is ready to support your council. Call us today on (056) 7820020 or complete our contact form to book a quick demo and discover how national scale data can support local decision making with confidence.