ConsultOnline blog
Ideas for better planning consultation
Insights on public consultation, community engagement, and planning communications.
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Working with new councillors
The recent local elections have seen a considerable influx of new councillors, which potentially introduces additional complexity for planning application decisions and local plans.
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Delegated planning decisions and the growing importance of consultation
The government’s National Scheme of Delegation is intended to speed decision-making. For applicants, it makes early engagement and a clear planning narrative more important, not less.
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AI and the Consultation Trap
Why planning needs new ground rules for the age of generated representations
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The engagement challenges of Brownfield First
Brownfield development may be politically easier to support than greenfield release, but it still needs a clear planning narrative and credible engagement.
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What do the local election results mean for communications on planning applications?
A change in political control does not usually mean that the planning system starts again. But it can change what applicants need to explain, who they need to reassure and where opposition is likely to gather.
From newsreels to networks
How public communication changed since the 1940s and why it matters for new towns now. From shared national stories to fragmented networks, AI-generated objections and the new demands this places on planning communications.
AI-powered objections are here: how should the planning and development sector respond?
The same technologies that make consultation more accessible can also automate objection. Planning promoters need to respond by making consultation easier to engage with, harder to manipulate and more transparent.
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Addressing common challenges in consultation
Opposing factors and risks are common to public participation: the very notion that developers bring change to established local communities; the wide-ranging views which exist within a community; the sentiment of those wary of engagement and exponents of it. Significant time and financial resources are expended with no guarantee that the investment will be realised, ...
Community relations during construction – working effectively with residents
There are many different facets to community relations during construction which will be addressed in later blogs. This first blog on the subject concerns the vital role of resident liaison. It goes without saying that local residents will be more positively engaged with a development team and less critical of it if their locality is ...
Maintaining good local relationships post-planning consent
With pre-planning consultation complete and planning consent won, a significant amount of public participation has been accomplished. But as the project moves into the construction phase, community engagement too enters a new phase. Inclusive and engaging consultation creates a foundation for the next stage of public participation. But rather than a continuation of the work ...
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A strategic approach to consultation
In consulting on a specific proposal, the logical sequence of a strategy, however wide-ranging the involvement activities, establishes clear aims and objectives, enabling the development team to share values, expectations and understanding with local residents and organisations. A strategy is also the best means of identifying relevant issues, which provide context and insight as the ...
Does a consultation need a strategy?
The simple answer, from my point of view is yes – all good consultations will have a consultation strategy. A strategy puts in place clear aims and objectives which ensure that the consultation team shares values, expectations and understanding. It also ensures that a wide range of relevant factors are identified at the start of ...