What do you think?

Consultation and engagement are relatively recent concepts for the development industry. In the short time that the government has been pushing for wider and deeper involvement of communities, though, a great deal of knowledge, experience and best practice has been generated. What lessons have been learned so far?

Get the timing right

Consultation is all about gathering views, listening to them and responding where possible. For it to be useful and seen to be fair, it needs to be early enough to allow for full consideration of all the views expressed. It should not be so early, though, that the level of information and detail available is not great enough to communicate.

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 local needs. Wider public consultation should therefore allow at least one to two months for comments to be collated, analysed and fed back in to the decision-making process. Given the time taken to understand the community needs and set up consultation events, at least three months should be allowed for the process to take place before any final decisions are taken.

Example: project in an environmentally sensitive area

This project was in an area with significant ecological value and a sensitive landscape, including an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Local stakeholders were identified and engaged with around four months prior to an expected planning application. This set a clear and reasonable perspective on the proposals with the local community and environmental groups. Delays have occurred since, though, and this has allowed local opposition to grow, rumours to spread and the project to be under threat.

Not only does the consultation need to be at the right time, but communication needs to be maintained, especially when delays arise. Getting this right will avoid communication vacuums being filled with misinformation.

Involve the right people

Clear, structured research should be undertaken upfront to understand the local community, their issues and the key representatives and stakeholders. Key local people should then be involved in commenting on the consultation strategy, to ensure it is appropriate for the local situation. Views on who else should be involved and how widely the public should be consulted should also be gathered from these people.

Given the importance of the views held by key stakeholders and local representatives, it is useful to give these people a separate opportunity to discuss the proposals, understand the detail and give comments.

Example: Leisure and hotel development

This hotel development was on a previously undeveloped site and so local support was needed. In addition to involving the local community, consultation was undertaken with groups who would have specific interests in the proposals. These included people interested in the jobs that would be created, groups likely to use the leisure facilities, and business representatives concerned with the need for a new hotel in the area to help the local economy.

Engage honestly and openly

Public scepticism about consultation has rightly increased, as a result of consultation being used as a front for information giving. The integrity of the consultation process is paramount. As far as is possible, full details of the consultation strategy, process and outcomes should be openly available and explained. Every opportunity has to be given for people to access information, whether through exhibitions, websites, displays, newsletters, workshops or even podcasts and text messaging.

Example: Former college site proposed for residential development

Our consultation started with meetings with the residents association to understand concerns they had raised about earlier plans. These included the number of units proposed, the mix of dwelling types, the height and design of buildings, open spaces, affordable housing and a play area. This was used to amend the plans which were to be presented at a public exhibition, so we could find out what would and would not be acceptable to present. Changes included a reduction in the number of units, reduced heights, altered design to improve visual appearance, the inclusion of more houses and fewer apartments and the addition of a children’s play area.

At the exhibition we consulted specifically on the level of affordable housing provision. We also held discussion workshops with residents within the exhibition. This enabled the client to make further changes to the plans before submitting an application, and to justify the proposed level of affordable housing, resulting in a much changed and successful application.

Reach out to the wider community

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 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 and reduces scepticism.

Example: Large 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 exhibition was held in a venue on the main high street of the town. The number of attendees, including many people coming straight in off the street having known nothing about the plans or the exhibition increased more than five-fold. Feedback also increased.

Use the right methods of communication

Getting to know a community and tailoring the consultation for them is essential. An example of how this can go wrong is where PowerPoint presentations were given to elderly people living in an extremely deprived area. This was not the most productive way of engagement. We proposed “tea discussion mornings” where small groups of residents could chat about the scheme and have questions answered in a friendly, informal way. Rather than using computers, we introduced large printed pictures of views of the scheme, using images rather than text wherever possible. Not only did the residents gain more from this but the feedback was very positive.

Communicate back

Having been open about the strategy and then delivered this, you should always let people know about the outcomes. 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 they understand that not all opinions can be included.

Example: 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 submitting the planning application. Other local presentations were given and the members of the sports club were consulted. 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 presented at a second public exhibition held expressly to present back the new plans and demonstrate how the consultation responses had been included in them.