ConsultOnline blog
Ideas for better planning consultation
Insights on public consultation, community engagement and planning communications.
What is community?
What is meant by ‘community’ and whether ‘community’ does it have any real meaning in the twenty-first century? The Oxford English Dictionary[i] describes ‘community’ as: ‘a body of people living in one place, district or country’ and, ‘a body of people having religion, ethnic origin, profession etc in common’. In planning, we tend to regard ...
What is the point of public consultation?
There is no point of public consultation – unless you know what you should be consulting on Articles on consultation in planning frequently focus on the methodologies used (online versus offline) and the potential to reach wide-ranging stakeholders (the ‘hard to reach’ or ‘seldom heard’). Perhaps more importantly – or at least an important initial ...
Why invest in community relations?
When a pre-planning consultation over and planning consent won, a significant amount of community engagement is complete. But as the new scheme moves into the construction phase, community engagement too enters a new phase. A successful pre-planning consultation will have created a good foundation for the next stage of engagement. But rather than a continuation ...
Thoughts on the HCLG report and consultation in planning
Yesterday the House of Commons’ Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee issued a first report on The Future of the Planning System in England. This follows the 2020 Planning White Paper, Planning for the Future which proposed some radical changes to the planning system. Read my digest of the very interesting points made in the ...
The Future of the Planning System in England: a response to the Commons Committee report from a consultation perspective
Yesterday the House of Commons’ Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee issued a first report on The future of the Planning System in England. This follows the 2020 Planning White Paper, Planning for the Future which proposed some radical changes to the planning system. In March this year, while researching People in Planning: Considering Consultation ...
The future of the Planning System in England – valuable insights from the HCLG Committee Report into planning consultations
For consultation practitioners, there is some very valuable information to glean yesterday’s House of Commons’ Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee report on The future of the Planning System in England. VIEWS OF THE HCLG COMMITTEE There are strong arguments in favour of consulting at an early stage (ie, on Local Plans): Arguments advanced in ...
Publication of People in Planning: considering consultation content
People in Planning: Considering Consultation Content is the first in a series of e-books on consultation in planning published by Bang the Table. Find out more about the book’s content and download a copy here.
Excellence in public participation and consultation
I was delighted to contribute to Regulation of Extractive Industries: Community Engagement in the Arctic – a compilation of expert opinion on consultation and communication, edited by Rachael Lorna Johnstone & Anne Merrild Hansen and published this week. The book demonstrates how effective public participation is fundamental to the process of change brought about by ...
A revolution in online consultation
In countries such as the UK (which has eighty-nine percent digital saturation), online communication is increasingly used in public participation because of its accessibility: its ability to reach people at all times, with immediacy, through a variety of means: its ability to overcome language restrictions, access ‘hard to reach’ groups (particularly commuters, families with young ...
Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation – an out of date concept or a useful tool?
In 1969 the US communications academic Sherry Arnstein identified the terminology of consultation in her Ladder of Participation. In some respects, Arnstein’s theory is a useful resource by which community involvement can be considered today. Arnstein’s Ladder was intended to reflect the relationship between community and government, identifying poorly-led participation as ‘manipulation’ on the bottom ...
The rise in single issue and direct action groups
Traditional forms of civic involvement have declined during the twenty-first century: trades union membership has almost halved since the late 1970s and now comprises less than a quarter of the workforce. Yet membership of special interest groups has increased substantially. Nearly 4.5 million people, or one in 10 UK adults, is now a member or ...
Report in association with APSE is published
In the summer of 2020, Penny Norton, as a member of the Consultation Institute (tCI)’s Environment Working Group, designed a research project for a joint initiative between tCI and APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence).