20th August 2025
Mycelia gives us confidence to know we validate robust applications only. This protects the time of the rest of the team, avoids unnecessary time pressure later in the process, and provides a strong foundation to help us meet our duties for the subsequent 30 years
At Uttlesford District Council, our validation team are the frontline for all planning applications, working under pressure to process a high volume of submissions against tight deadlines. With the introduction of mandatory BNG, they were faced with a new layer of technical checks.
There were three main challenges to the validation process, which Uttlesford completes within 5 working days for minor developments, and 10 for majors:
- Checking for tampering – warnings have been circulated by Defra of instances where formulas have been manipulated, meaning that the metric received is not the statutory version and is therefore not acceptable for submission. But checking every cell and hunting for hidden formula changes in the statutory metric requires resource that we simply don’t have.
- National requirements – confirming that every compulsory photo, data point and explanatory note was present meant trawling across the many tabs of the complex spreadsheet.
- Local list requirements – At Uttlesford, we have additional local validation requirements, which ensure a smooth process post-validation. The metric needs to be checked against these as well.
This was a large workload for our validation team, who need to work quickly across a huge range of topics. The risk was that if we validated an incomplete or incorrect submission, we would create significant pressure and rework for our case officers and ecologists later in the process, creating time pressures and frustrations for applicants.
The solution: Instantaneous, automated checks, with easy-to-understand outputs
Mycelia is an essential tool for our validation team. It automates the complex, technical checks that are critical for robust BNG validation.
When a BNG metric is uploaded, Mycelia instantly:
- Audits the formulas: Flags tampering in seconds, identifying non-statutory metrics that must be invalidated.
- Checks validation requirements: Confirms that all information required by the National Validation Checklist has been submitted, and flags a range of other items to check against our local list.
- Provides a clear output: If problems are found, Mycelia flags them in plain English, making it easy for our team to understand the issue and communicate it quickly to the applicant with a simple copy-paste.
Because Mycelia was built into our process from day one, the added BNG validation steps haven’t slowed us down at all—we still clear 97 % of applications within three working days and 99 % within five.
Mycelia makes validation more reliable
With Mycelia, we have 100% confidence that all metrics validated are in line with statutory requirements. This allows our validation team to perform the necessary BNG checks with a rigour that would otherwise be impossible. It saves a huge amount of time upfront and, crucially, protects the time of our specialist officers down the line.
By catching issues early, we ensure that only valid, complete BNG applications enter the system. Clear, single-page feedback reduces back-and-forth with applicants, minimises delays, and allows the entire planning team to work more effectively.
What this means for LPAs
LPAs can significantly speed up their validation process while increasing its rigour and traceability. This reduces backlogs, manages workloads more effectively, and prevents costly delays and stress later in the planning process by ensuring only robust applications are passed onto case officers.