approach
how we can help you
If you are a developer or their agent, we have the knowledge and experience to design and deliver a community engagement strategy that will meet your requirements and also satisfy the local planning department. As planners, we are well practiced in connecting and co-ordinating community aspirations, planning policy and physical design. Whether you’re in the private, public or voluntary sector,we’re familiar with your need to minimise risk and delay, control costs and create value. Indeed, our preference is to work closely with your planning and design team.
If you are a local authority planner, you can be confident that our consultation strategy will meet the requirements of the new Scottish planning system. We will liaise closely with you as we design and prepare each consultation strategy. We will unearth local people’s knowledge and aspirations, and feed them into the developer and the design team. We’ll also provide you with clear, concise reports which will amply satisfy your needs for processing planning applications.
And if you are part of a local community – trust us, we’re in the same boat. We are active in our local communities too. We know exactly what it’s like to be on the receiving end of consultation, good and bad. We are sensitive to the myriad of different interests and tensions within communities, from residents to businesses. We understand that change is one of the most difficult things for local communities to come to terms with, and we understand the need for people to voice their concerns and be listened to. We don’t simply tick boxes or pander to the loudest voices. Our concern is always to fully understand local concerns, and find out what people really need and want for their area.
We are only too aware that there can be communication gaps between these different groups of players. This can often lead to misunderstanding and tension. For consultation to be truly effective, it needs to build towards mutual trust. We believe that this can only be achieved by building bridges – enabling better communication and understanding of each others’ perspectives.
promising the earth?
But this doesn’t mean that we promise the earth to everyone. Although it’s now widely accepted that proper community engagement leads to better proposals, it would be irresponsible to say that everyone will always be delighted. Planning involves making difficult decisions. If one party gets everything entirely its own way, others will be unhappy – which can lead to ill-feeling, rancour, legal challenge, cost and delay.
Using our facilitation and mediation expertise, we work to eliminate these tensions. The result is to provide the groundwork for good placemaking which everyone can feel positive about.
our approach
Fundamentally, our approach is about building trust with each of these groups. Experience has shown us that is the best way of delivering good development and better places.
Many people sell their services by focussing on techniques – like Appreciative Inquiry, focus groups, Planning for Real, Future Search or a multitude of other variations.
We are different. Our starting point is a series of principles:
- Engaging with communities at the right time in the planning and development process can produce better plans and projects, and can build support rather than resentment.
- It’s essential to be clear about the objectives of community engagement for each project.
- A thoughtful, tailored approach to each and every project is very important.
- Communication is vital: discussing, talking, writing and – most important of all – listening. Respect, openness, honesty, sensitivity and mutual understanding are critical.
- Rather than trying to adapt the project to the technique, we believe in adapting the techniques to suit the project.
We use our facilitation and communication skills, experience and flexibility to create a tailored approach for each context. We will look at every proposal afresh, taking these principles as our starting point. The local context will determine our way forward.
If the developer or local authority planners are keen to get involved with the local community, we will build that in from the start. If there are well-organised community groups in the area, we can approach them to see if they would be happy to work with us on designing and implementing the consultation. If there’s a history of mistrust, we will spend time addressing it. If there is local appetite for change, a high profile approach might be just the way to build and broaden support. If young people need to be involved – which we would normally recommend – we’ll work with youth groups or schools.
We’re comfortable working in different ways and with different media – from large formal workshops to small discussion groups, with mapping, electronic media or just plain conversation. Being good communicators, we can set the right tone for each project – which could vary from relective and low key to exciting and promotional.
To get a flavour of some of the projects that we’ve worked on in the past, take a look at our skills & experience.