Virtual exhibitions for planning consultation
Create an online exhibition that can remain available throughout the published consultation period, subject to service availability. It provides another route to review proposal material and submit recorded feedback, which teams should reconcile with other consultation channels.
What it helps you do
Reach more people without adding another venue date
Reach the silent majority
Give residents, consultees and stakeholders a clear route to engage in their own time.
Explain the proposal clearly
Turn exhibition boards, plans, FAQs and surveys into one guided digital journey.
Build planning-ready evidence
Capture visits, responses and themes in a format that supports consultation reporting.
How It Works
Three steps to your online consultation event
Design Your Exhibition Boards
Create individual digital exhibition boards for each aspect of your proposal. Upload images, site plans, CGI renders and documents. Add text descriptions, embed videos and include interactive elements like clickable hotspots and embedded surveys. Arrange your boards in a logical viewing order that guides visitors through the consultation material, just as you would lay out a physical exhibition room.
Publish and Share
Publish an approved virtual exhibition on a branded consultation microsite and share its link through newsletters, social media, other websites or printed QR codes. Responsive layouts are tested on representative devices; availability and performance depend on the browser, device and connection. Opening and closing dates can follow the consultation timetable, and authorised teams can update boards as proposals evolve.
Collect Feedback and Analyse
Visitors can leave board comments, complete embedded surveys and interact with published content. The dashboard records configured events such as page activity, reported downloads and survey responses, subject to consent, browser limits and project settings. Review exported records and draft summaries against source data before reporting.
Use Cases
Perfect for every type of consultation event
Virtual exhibitions can complement consultations that use boards or other visual material. A board-by-board layout provides an online route alongside physical events and alternative formats. Suitability, accessibility, capacity and audience reach depend on the content, configuration, promotion and needs of the people taking part.
Major Planning Applications
Present site plans, elevations, CGI renders and design rationale across multiple exhibition boards. Let residents comment on specific aspects of the proposal.
Neighbourhood Plans
Walk communities through draft policies, site allocations and design codes with an accessible online exhibition that reaches beyond the usual parish meeting attendees.
Transport and Highways Schemes
Display proposed route options, cross-sections and traffic modelling data. Embed surveys on each board to capture preferences for specific design elements.
Housing Developments
Showcase masterplans, housing mix, landscape strategies and community facilities. Interactive hotspots let visitors explore different parts of the development in detail.
Local Plan Consultations
Present strategic site options, spatial strategies and policy proposals across themed exhibition boards. Support Regulation 18 and 19 consultation stages with structured feedback collection.
Infrastructure and Regeneration
Share phasing plans, construction timelines and community benefit proposals for large-scale regeneration, energy or utilities projects.
Conservation and Heritage
Display historic maps, character area assessments and proposed conservation boundaries. Collect views on management proposals and Article 4 directions.
Environmental Consultations
Present environmental impact findings, biodiversity net gain strategies and sustainability assessments with supporting data and visualisations.
See how virtual exhibitions can support your next consultation
Book a demo to see how ConsultOnline can support your next planning consultation.
Core capabilities
Everything needed for an online exhibition
A concise set of tools for presenting the scheme, answering common questions and collecting usable consultation feedback.
Planning evidence
Why it matters for planning
A virtual exhibition provides another route for people who may not attend a scheduled venue event. It records activity submitted through configured digital channels; teams should reconcile that data with offline and external participation.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Ready to reach more of the community?
Book a demo to see how ConsultOnline can support your next planning consultation.
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