CASE STUDY
Are NIMBYs blowing sustainable
projects off course?
‘Not in my back yard’ is symptomatic of local residents’ reaction to the prospect of having
a district heating facility or wind turbine built near their homes. How should developers and
local authorities overcome objections? Richard Halderthay reports.
A
SK ANYONE in the street if and rocketing unemployment and, importantly, make for great local newspaper headlines. But
a more sustainable future is the challenges developers face in meeting the it is more urban myth than factual information
a good thing for the UK and needs of their consumers, delivering suffi cient - wind farms are virtually silent and the RSPB
the answer will probably be a and affordable housing and investing in new has long supported the vast majority of such
resounding ‘yes’. Ask anyone if we should be technology and techniques to satisfy the planning applications.
throwing less rubbish into landfi ll, recycling modern way of life. If people don’t understand something, the
more, consuming less energy and living, as a So how, having overcome all the technical natural reaction is to fi ght against it, push it
country and as a planet, more within our means challenges needed to bring forward proposals away and oppose it. So we have to get the
and surveys will also give you a thumbs-up. for new development, is the sustainability basics right at the outset. If we don’t, or if we
However, if you ask people if they want sector best advised to deal with ‘the man in the leave this until too late in the process, it can be
a wind farm in their village, an advanced street’? How should we deal with stakeholders almost impossible to recover from the position.
thermal treatment centre at the end of their who, ultimately, have the power to make or Fortunately, the system is our friend in this
road, or an eco town in their district, you will break projects and in so doing, in their own respect and we have an opportunity, through the
get a very different answer indeed. small way, help or hinder us achieving our 2020 statutory requirement to consult, to help guide
These are some of the challenges the renewables target? every single renewable energy project. In short,
government faces - a more sustainable future is In some respects, the sustainable in planning consultation is king. But more often
no longer just a desirable option, the challenges development industry is an easy target for than not, the real problem is not one of not
local authorities face - missing recycling targets opposition. Take wind farm development for consulting; it is that consultation is dominated
and sending ever-larger volumes of waste to example. Scare stories about noise levels, by opponents.
landfi ll is an increasingly expensive habit, shadow fl icker and killing birdlife, are, for So what are the basics? And how should we
the challenges consumers face - especially in some, compelling arguments to oppose the approach them?
times of infl ation-busting energy price rises development of a wind farm and, importantly, The basics fall into three simple categories
each requiring a bespoke approach set against
general principles:
1. Timing: An easy mistake to make
is leaving consultation and stakeholder
engagement until too late in the process. We
would always advise clients that a parallel
approach should be adopted: technical work
and discussions with local authority offi cers
should run in parallel to discussions with key
stakeholders. Bridging the gap between the
two is critical. Getting this right enables us to
understand these issues at an early stage; and
knowledge is all. As a former councillor myself,
I wanted to be involved early in the cycle, have
the opportunity to discuss the issues in the
round at the outset - not be presented with a
‘fait accompli’. Timing is critical and should be
given early consideration.
2. Stakeholders: Simply defi ned, a
stakeholder is someone who may be affected,
benefi cially or otherwise, by an organisation’s
activities. But in today’s society, and in certain
communities, the defi nition of stakeholder
Stakeholder forums help diffuse potential problems at an early stage.
is much broader with more groups or
12 SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS December/January 2009
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