The delays in the planning system are huge. To prove it just ask most developers about their experience of planning committees, nimby action groups and local politics and you’re sure of a colourful response! But need this be so?

In the past, many developers thought of consultation as, at best, a nuisance or at worst, an expensive nuisance. After all, the logic runs, if there is more consultation, there will be even more delay. However, good consultation, properly, openly and fairly conducted, offers a real opportunity. By engaging early and intensively with communities and their representatives, there is an ability to bring speed into the system. Many organisations, from councils to developers and Government departments
to airports are catching on and putting time, effort and substantial amounts of money into consultation. So how do you get it right?

Good consultation can sit neatly between informing and placating. These are the ingredients for an effective consultation. Informing – ‘here are our boundaries’ – is essential, and we have to do that to make this work for us. However the placation gives areas for negotiation – ‘how do you see the design?’, ‘what about the additional community benefits?’. This builds a feeling of partnership, an area where change can bring both sides benefit – which is at the heart of an effective consultation, and it is more likely to be acceptable.

A well-timed plan is essential
Consultation is all about gathering views, listening to them and responding, where possible. It needs to be early enough to allow for full consideration of all the views expressed. Although, it should not be too early, where the level of information and detail available is not great enough to communicate appropriately.

The consultation process must take into account the requirements of the local community. It is a good idea to seek the views of key local representatives on the best format for the consultation process before embarking on a strategy that may not fit with local needs. For example, a prefabricated exhibition in a hotel suiteremote from the heart of the community will not work. If it is open at the wrong times, on the wrong weekend, then it will be disregarded. If the consultation is not seen to be fair – it is not fair.

With community participation it is important to ensure that the method of involvement is suitable. If it is not, and the wrong form is taken, then both sides lose. This is again where the community you are consulting can lead – where is the best place, how best can we consult, who are the key people we need to motivate?

Bring the movers and shakers on board!
As with the timing, the people to be involved are a vital part of gaining the true views of a community. Clear, structured research should be undertaken upfront to understand the local community, their issues and the key representatives and stakeholders.

Identify the community and political leaders and opinion formers and involve them in commenting on the consultation strategy, to ensure it is appropriate for the local situation.

You should not be afraid of broadening consultation beyond your original boundaries, as the wider the range of local views gathered, the greater your ability to judge how widely held individual views are and therefore which views hold most weight.

Location, location, location
Many consultation strategies fail to gain balanced opinions and local acceptance because they rely too heavily on the public making the effort to get involved, resulting in just the ‘usual suspects’ taking part.

Good, or even great, consultation takes the process to the people.

Not only does this demonstrate openness and a desire to involve the widest possible breadth of citizens, it also broadens awareness, gains a greater range of views, increases validity of the process and reduces scepticism.

Some methods for engaging each audience…

Exhibitions
An exhibition is a very valuable way of taking developed draft plans to the wider public and receiving detailed, considered responses. It can be used effectively in conjunction with a number of other consultation products to form a larger programme. The format allows members of the public to view plans for a development in a controlled environment and put questions to the project team.

Workshops
Workshops work best earlier in the planning stage than exhibitions. These allow key representatives and interested locals a real opportunity to influence the progress of a project. They facilitate the in-depth discussion of issues based on plans and other visual materials, and can generate community-led, creative solutions.

Community or Neighbourhood Forums
Within any community there are a small number of key decision-makers. It is these people who can make or break a project. Often, they are shouted down by the protestors and those who are totally opposed. Community or neighbourhood forums are a way of bringing these people together so they can discuss the development, ask for changes and modifications and understand the constraints under which the developer may be working.

Opinion Research Campaigns
This is a more quantitative method of researching the views of the public towards a proposal. It is particularly useful in gauging the level of support within a community to a development, or if a large project requires a very wide area to be consulted.

The polling programme can be conducted in person, by telephone or face-to-face – or alternatively can be a surveying exercise by mail. Polling staff use a prepared script and conduct interviews within a given area.

Roadshows
Another method of consulting a wider area, that has a proven success record, is a roadshow. This takes the format of a standard presentation on the project, which can be used to discuss the main points of a development with a number of different stakeholder groups, for example parish, town or community councils, residents’ associations or sports clubs. This option can be particularly successful for large strategic sites covering a number of interested groups.

The Media
The media can often make or break a project, and can certainly impact the way a scheme is perceived in a local area. It pays to establish a relationship with the local press covering a development area, especially if the project is large or controversial.

Feedback is essential
It is always important to let people know how their input has been fed into the proposals.

This is a two stage process. Firstly, let people know what you have found out through the process. Then, after careful and full consideration, explain how you have taken on board the views expressed, or why you may not be able to respond to some opinions.

The public have the right to be heard, but most reasonable people expect to be listened to regardless of whether their views result in any action. They understand that not all opinions can be included.

To sum up, the pressure for development in London and the South East is resulting in increasing concern within communities about the changes taking place in their area. The solution is to inform communities of development proposals at an early stage and to take them with you throughout the planning process. Most people appreciate their views being sought and will be prepared to engage constructively. Harnessing the engagement of local people in this way produces benefits for everyone – empowering residents over the future shape of their community, minimizing pressure on local politicians and speedier planning permissions for developers.

Case study: Leisure and hotel development
In addition to involving the local community, consultation was also undertaken with groups who would have specific interests in the proposals. These included people interested in the jobs which would be created, groups likely to use the leisure facilities and business representatives concerned with the need for a new hotel in the area - all potential champions of the development.

Case study: Major regeneration scheme in east London
Over six months of consultation, three large exhibitions were held. The first was within the site of the development. Although this had a good turnout, it was not as large as could be expected for proposals of this scale. The site itself was separated from the main urban centre. Therefore, the second and third exhibitions were held in a venue on the main high street of the town. This resulted in over five times the number of attendees, including many people coming straight in off the street having known nothing about the plans or the exhibition. It also resulted in a very wide range of opinions and ideas expressed in feedback. The consultation programme enabled the project team to learn of the local community’s aspirations for the site and what they felt they could ‘get out of it’. As a result of this feedback, changes were made to the plans which created amenities to be enjoyed by people living outside the site as well as residents in the new development. In this way, the consultation helped to gain greater local legitimacy for the developer’s proposals resulting in a unanimous approval at planning committee.

Case study: Sports Stadium redevelopment, including mix of additional-uses
For most consultation programmes on planning applications, we produce a Statement of Community Engagement for submission with the application or soon after. This document sets out in detail the consultation strategy, the justification for it, the exact engagement undertaken, the views and comments received and, vitally, the response made to these views.

For this redevelopment of a sports stadium, a large exhibition was undertaken six months before submission of the planning application. Other local presentations were given and the members of the sports club were consulted. Numerous changes were made to the plans and the design before submission of the application, and much of this was informed by the feedback received. This was all detailed in a Statement of Community Engagement, submitted with the application, and also presented at a second public exhibition held after the application was in. This second exhibition was expressly to present back the new plans and to demonstrate how the consultation responses had been included in them.

For more information visit www.greenissues.com

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