UK planning applications in ArcGIS
Map planning applications in ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS Online from the coordinates on every record.
Plota brings UK planning applications from 389 council planning portals into one classified, source-linked dataset. Pull it into ArcGIS and you are working with consistent fields across every authority - the same category, decision stage and consent route whichever council published the record, with each council's own wording kept alongside - so a comparison across areas is a like-for-like one rather than an exercise in reconciling council vocabularies.
Before you start
- Get an API key. A free demo key reads the search endpoint, so you can check the fields against your own patch before paying; bulk export is Starter and above.
- Decide which councils, categories and date range you want. Every filter in the API docs works here.
How to load Plota data into ArcGIS
Export the records you want
The export endpoint returns one CSV for the whole filter rather than a page. Every row carries lat and lng alongside the reference, address, category, stage and both source links:
curl -X POST "https://api.plota.co.uk/v1/exports" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer plota_live_your_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"council":"wandsworth","date_from":"2026-01-01","format":"csv","limit":5000}' \
-o planning.csvArcGIS Pro: turn the table into points
Add the CSV to your map, then run XY Table To Point with lng as the X field and lat as the Y field. Set the coordinate system to WGS 1984 (EPSG:4326). The coordinates are WGS84 decimal degrees, not British National Grid, so accepting the map default on a BNG project puts every point in the wrong place - and it will look plausible enough that nobody notices for a while.
ArcGIS Online: add the CSV as a layer
Content → New item → Your device, upload the CSV, then set Longitude = lng and Latitude = lat. Style by the category or stage column to see what is being proposed where.
Know how precise each point is
Not every coordinate is a rooftop. The JSON response carries location.precision - rooftop from a council or UPRN point, anchor for a named site, centroid for a postcode centroid, which can sit tens of metres from the actual site. That field is in the JSON only, not the CSV columns, so pull JSON instead if your analysis is parcel-level rather than area-level.
Keep it current
Re-run the export with changed_since set to your last pull and overwrite the hosted layer, so an update is not a rebuild. The change feed is on the Pro plan and above.
Check the data against the source
Every row carries plota_url and, where the council publishes one, council_url. Keep both in your model: anyone questioning a figure can open the official council record from the row rather than taking the number on trust. Coverage and last-checked times for every authority are on the coverage page.
ArcGIS integration FAQ
Can I get UK planning applications into ArcGIS?
Yes. ArcGIS reads the Plota API directly, so no automation platform sits in between. Each record carries the planning reference, authority, address, description, classified category, consent route, status, received / validated / decision dates, coordinates, and links to the official council source and the Plota page.
Do I need to write code to connect Plota to ArcGIS?
No code beyond the query itself. You point ArcGIS at the Plota endpoint with your API key, choose the councils, categories and date range you want, and the fields arrive already normalised across authorities.
What planning data comes through to ArcGIS?
Every row carries the reference, authority, address, postcode, description, Plota's classified category, consent route, status and stage, the received / validated / decision dates, the key statutory dates, latitude and longitude, dwelling count where stated, the Plota page URL and the official council source URL.
How do I keep the data in ArcGIS up to date?
Pass changed_since with the timestamp of your last successful run. Plota returns only the records whose content has changed since then - a new status, a decision, a new document, a revised description - so a scheduled refresh stays small and does not re-pull records that have not moved.
How current is the planning data?
Plota checks UK council planning portals daily and classifies new applications, so a refresh in ArcGIS reflects what councils published rather than a periodic manual gather.
Is the ArcGIS integration free?
You can test the API with a free demo key. Production pulls into ArcGIS run on the Starter plan and above; Plota's public planning search and email alerts stay free.