Durham County Council’s Regeneration and Economic Development Service (RED) is set to make large cost and efficiency savings by implementing Limehouse uCreate and Limehouse uEngage to streamline the creation of key policy documents and improve engagement and collaboration with citizens and stakeholders.

Limehouse, an Objective Corporation company, will provide a robust platform for effective collaboration, consultation and publication of the many complex documents that the council has to produce.

The council’s Planning Service, part of RED, originally selected Limehouse to support it in the production of its Local Development Framework (LDF). Having experienced the effectiveness of the solutions for this project, the Directorate made a strategic decision to expand their use to include the management of its new Local Transport Plan  (LTP3), Housing and Economic Development Strategy documents.

Ian Thompson, Corporate Director of RED for Durham County Council, stated: “Limehouse uCreate and uEngage will allow us to adopt a more efficient way of creating and producing policy documents that involves all key stakeholders. In so doing it will also help us to engage more effectively with the people we serve.  This ensures that the services that Durham County Council provide, meet the requirements of the local community.”

Simon Etherington, UK General Manager, Objective Corporation, stated: “Our solutions proved their own worth within the Planning Service of Regeneration and Economic Development at Durham County Council, giving them the confidence to extend their use for additional statutory documents. Local authorities are looking for innovative ways to save money and meet efficiency targets – our solutions enable councils to achieve these objectives.”

“Durham has a statutory responsibility to produce a wide range of strategic documents relating to key policy issues. However, by using our solutions, it can significantly reduce the costs that are traditionally associated in documenting its plans for local transport, housing and economic re-development in the local area, enabling more money to be allocated to the delivery of front-line services,” he added.

Durham will realise significant benefits using Limehouse, including a substantial reduction in the time taken to write, edit, review, format, update and publish each document, and cost savings in the design processes. Limehouse greatly simplifies the design process, negating the need for external designers.

Furthermore, the council will benefit from more effective, controlled and auditable processes, with streamlined analysis and reporting capabilities, once the documents are released for public consultation.