Public Consultation
The need for effective community consultation as part of the development process is now a statutory requirement as laid out in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (part 2 and schedule 8) as well as the Town and Country Planning regulations 2004.
We do
this using a range of skills that include research, public affairs and media
liaison. Typically, the work divides into community relations, including public
exhibitions, opinion surveys, door-to-door support generation for a scheme;
political influencing, contacting councillors and other political influencers
to win support and answer objections; gaining press support, through local
media liaison to spread the word, and just to ensure all bases are covered,
initiating wider lobbying with special interest groups.
Political influencing
It is always essential to have local political support for any scheme. Though it unlikely that all sides will support scheme, it is important that everyone has the facts about the potential positive impact of a development.Early representations outlining the benefits of the scheme together with an outline of the community communications plan can lay the foundations for strong local support.
Media liaison
Gaining local press support helps us to talk to the wider community and those that have not responded to other parts of the communications programme.
A
holistic approach to communications includes regular media briefings, so as to
ensure accurate reporting of all the issues related to a development. Too
often, local media is only contacted on a good news story or in response to
criticism. However, early meaningful dialogue with individual contacts is what
is actually needed to ensure a balanced media response.
Lobbying
Quite apart for the need for political influencing, there are often special interest groups that also can be regarded as a ‘community stakeholders’. These can include environmental groups, history and heritage societies, local business organisations, community and resident and other pressure groups.
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