COMMUNITY CONSULTATION
Your community consultation checklist:
way to listen to their views and make the effort to reach them, rather than waiting for the public to come to them. This approach could certainly help planning decisions on contemporary designs in sensitive areas - where history has shown these schemes to be more controversial. Be creative with
consultation. If the local meeting place is the pub, visit the landlord and set-up an evening where you can discuss local people’s issues with your plans. Undertake consumer research in shopping centres, outside football grounds, or at the school gates. Support all of your work with
a hardworking media relations campaign to keep all sectors of the community up-to-date with your proposals. Work with the local media to make them understand what your development could mean to the local community, increased jobs, economic development for other shops and services, homes for local communities
etc. Keep a file of these press cuttings which all help to demonstrate how you’ve fully consulted all sectors of society. To gain planning permission
it is now vital to undertake an effective and engaging community consultation before an application is made. In the current economic climate, where the Growth Agenda favours sustainable development, schemes are now being approved by Councils although they’ve received objections from the vocal local community, but have also had positive public pre-application consultations with the wider, quieter community. This positive pre-application consultation has been enough for Planning Committees and Officers to view schemes with a broader community viewpoint and to approve schemes on green field sites, and sites outside settlement boundaries with a reduced requirement for affordable housing. Community consultation should make the local
community have a better understanding of the rationale of why a particular design was chosen, and they should feel a sense of ‘ownership’ if they have been involved since the initial stages. A good community consultation ought to be a rewarding experience for all – professionals and locals – and result in schemes gaining significant local support. A truly engaged community consultation also reduces the need for amended designs at short notice during the application process – which should make for less frantic architects’ offices! Consulting the community
will never make a flawed planning application approvable - community consultation should make the planning process inclusive. Everyone is involved in shaping the future and local communities need to feel they have helped to create a sustainable quality environment for their families and friends to enjoy for many years to come.
• Decide whether to manage the community consultation in-house or call in specialist help. • Visit the local Planning department and take ‘pre- app’ advice. • Research who makes up the community and who are the key stakeholders. • Create a consultation plan to effectively communicate the key objectives and benefits your development will bring to the community. • Consider your timing and ensure the local community has enough time to voice their opinions and recommendations on your proposals. • Avoid technical terms and use plain English in all communications. • Plug into the digital age and make it easy for people to liaise with you, create your own Twitter feed, and illustrate your plans online. • Be creative and don’t just consult in church halls! • Involve the key community stakeholders at the earliest possible stage of the scheme. • Take on board comments and incorporate them into the design if possible. If not possible, feedback to the community why their change(s) were not appropriate. • Show the community the results of the consultation. • Evaluate your engagement with the community, these statistics are very useful to show planning committees. • Clearly demonstrate to the Local Planning Authority how you have involved the local community in your proposal and taken on board their considerations.
To find out more about community consultation, visit
www.bigwavepr.co.uk
ArchitectNews.co.uk | Architects Choice | 19
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