The project aimed to address issues around gathering quality community feedback and communicating proposed changes. Regeneration professionals often find it difficult to translate complex plans to allow residents and community members to imagine the physical changes that a regeneration project will effect.

The case study shows how Allerdale Borough Council worked with computer experts to allow stakeholders to actually ‘see’ how the £75m transformation of their area would look by simply ‘driving’ through the town on their computer.

In partnership with computer experts, 3dwebtech, the local authority developed a fully interactive 3D mapping computer programme. This technology allowed stakeholders to actually ‘see’ how the transformation of their area would look by simply ‘driving’ through the town on their computer. This simple but effective, solution takes the guesswork out of traditional viewing of plans to be replaced by a virtual and accessible projection of the changes onto a computer screen.

The software is easily updated, with amends added to the programme as the regeneration plans develop.

The programme is a fantastic tool for planning and stakeholder engagement on infrastructure development, as it allows the visualisation of change. While the supplier selection process was difficult due to a lack of knowledge in the field on the part of the local authority, the pragmatic and flexible approach adopted by partner 3dwebteck proved very successful. The virtual reality software now runs in a movie format on public display and has been distributed on CD via the local newspaper.

Learning points: recognition of the potential for ICT to offer new forms of community consultation and engagement.

The community

CD distributed via local newspaper, Virtual tour now runs in movie format on public display.

Allerdale Borough Council

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case

Urban Policy

Housing, Urban environment, Transport and infrastructure