RICS Development Conference

New forms of engagement: how to make them work?

3 November 2015

The widest

Perspective on Northern Ireland

Planning

Engagement

‘A wider perspective’ on

Engagement

New forms of engagement: how to make them work?

• Are their any new forms of engagement?

• Impact of new consultation requirement upon

development

• Successful Community Engagement

1

Are their new forms of engagement?

Are there any new

forms of Engagement?

The essence of engagement is

communication and influencing

Technologies may have changed

but the fundamentals remain

Is engagement the right word to use

on some projects?

Key Stakeholders

Communication

Disciplines

Engagement

Interactions

Route

Map

Consultation with DoE (Section 26)

PAN, PADs, PACC, EIA S/S

Prepare EIA, PACCR and DAS

Submit, publicise & consulted on application

DoE f orm view and consult Minister

Notify opinion to Applicant & Council

Planning decision

Applicant or Council requests public hearing

Public Hearing held by PAC & determination

DoE Minister has f inal decision

DoE initiates Public Inquiry

Public Inquiry held by PAC

DoE Minister has f inal decision

Planning decision

PADs, PACC, EIA S/S

Application ‘called-in’

Application processed by DoE

Application publicised and consulted on

DoE f orm view and consult with Minister

Notify opinion to Applicant & Council

Planning decision

Applicant or Council requests public hearing

Public Hearing held by PAC & determination

DoE Minister has f inal decision

Planning decision

DoE initiates Public Inquiry

Public Inquiry held by PAC & makes determination

DoE Minister has f inal decision

Planning decision

Prepare EIA, PACCR and DAS

Submit Planning Application

Notif ication of Direction

Application publicised and consulted on

Pre-determination Hearing

Council decides on planning application

Appeal av ailable to PAC (if necessary)

‘Call-in’

RS

Major

Wider Stakeholders

Engagement

Interactions

Are their any new

forms of Engagement?

A new awareness, new application of existing communication skills and disciplines

‘Engagement’ is integrating interactions into sequence of actions - part of your planning strategy;

“ The right message, heard by the right person, at the right time…through the best possible medium.”

Nothing new per se

2

Impact of new consultation

requirements on your development?

Impact of new consultation

requirements

Why is engagement important to

your development?

What impact will poor engagement

have on your project / application /

reputation?

3 recent examples

1. Casement Park

GAA applied to build 38,000 stadium

• Approved by Mark H Durkan MLA

• Quashed on Judicial Review

• Brought by MORA

Since been subject to:

• PAR by DCAL

• CAL Committee Inquiry

• Cabinet Office Report

Underestimation of the impact of

community concerns?

2. Newtownabbey Pig Farm

Farmer proposed 23 acre pig farm

• Raehill Road

• 30,000 pigs

• Two anaerobic digesters

Huge backlash

• 3000+ correspondence received

• 212,508 signatures

• And Brian May!

Too much, too far, far far too late

3. Ulster University

Jordanstown Campus

Submitted in May 2013

• 600 new homes on 26 acres site

• A village centre

• Two relocated playfields

• R&D centre

Rejected in August 2015 after predetermination hearing

• 50 objection letters

• “A quality layout had not been demonstrated.”

Consultation was not a statutory requirement at the time.

“This is a message to any applicant that under the new

planning regime if an applicant with a development of this

size wants to seriously consider getting a planning

application through they have to meaningfully consult with

local residents

“What this university did in this particular case was a

lamentable exercise in consultation.”

Cllr Tom Campbell, Alliance Party,

Antrim and Newtownabbey Council

Requirements for

community consultation

• Section 25 of the Planning Act (NI) 2011 sets out a new

hierarchy of development (i.e Major, Local and Regionally Significant)

• Planning (Development Management) Regulations (NI) 2015, published the thresholds

• Section 27 brought in the requirement for Major and RS

applications to undertake:

• PAN needs to consider the 5 Ws

• Pre Application Community Consultation

• 12 week minimum,

• 1 Public Event

• 1 Public Advertisement

• PACC Report ‘Meaningful Engagement’

• Social Housing DSD requirements – engagement fatigue

• Section 50 outlines the duty on the planning authority to decline to determine if Section 27 requirement not met

Threshold Residential Retail Office Energy Infrastructure

Regional n/a n/a n/a >30 megawatts (wind) 110 kilovolts (power line)

Major 50 units+ Or exceeds 2ha

1,000sqm + outside centres or exceeds 1 ha outside centre

5,000 sqm or more gross floorspace or site exceeds 1 ha

>5 megawatts (wind) 33 kilovolts (power line)

Local <50 units <1,000sqm outside centre and no limit inside centre

<5,000sqm and <1ha

<5 megawatts (wind)

Ramifications

Northern Ireland

• too early to know for sure

England & Wales

• Planning & Compulsory Purchase 2004

• Localism Act 2011 and NPPF

• Not a statutory requirement - except for NSIPs

• Lack of engagement has been stated as a reason for refusal

- “Whilst weight can be given [to engagement] in favour of a development… I do not agree that the lack of such engagement would in itself weight against a proposal development”

- Planning Inspectorate

• Despite this, generally viewed as positive, and part of the process

• Pre-app has made an impression on thinking – it benefits larger developments and NSIPs

Learnings

Criticisms

• Genuine vs Box-ticking

• Weighting of “uninvolved majority”

Lessons

• Must be part of joined up plan

• Integrates with your planning strategy

• Meaningful engagement is impossible if ‘ambushed’ or ‘parachuted’ in

Once again flip expectations

• Engagement is Marketing comms

Take a wider

perspective

Requirements are threefold:

• Yes - to meet the statutory

requirements, but developers who do it well treat it as a commercial concern.

Engagement is also:

• A first step in Marketing/CSR a product or developing a relationship, reputation, or brand

• An effort to exert maximum pressure

upon the determining authority – simply can’t be a ‘bolt on’

3

Successful Community Engagement

Engagement is good for

Northern Ireland

• Good that NI has as strong emphasis on pre-app

• Successful engagement is normalising

• Repatriating planning with local government

• Its is normalising our society, and our politics

• and politics in planning is tricky everywhere

Public Affairs

NI Political Environment

• 11 District Council as determining authorities and DoE (for now)

• Less predictable - no planning committee has a single party majority

• Requires cross party and cross community support

• 6 unionist councils, 4 nationalist and Belfast

Impact

• Could be a particular issue for social housing

• Or for LDP process – politicians may be asked to make hard decisions on how land is used

• Dispute could lead to delay in development

Credibility

• Still a cause for concern in every jurisdiction

Party /

Council

DUP SF UUP SDLP AP OTHER Total

Belfast CC 2 4 2 2 2 2 (PUP / TUV) 14

Derry City & Strabane DC 3 6 1 4 0 0 14

Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon BC

4 3 4 2 0 1 (UKIP) 14

Causeway Coast & Glens District Council 4 4 4 2 1 1 (TUV) 16

Antrim & Newtownabbey District Council

4 1 3 1 2 1 (TUV)

12

Ards & North Down Borough Council 7 0 4 0 3 1 (Green) 15

Fermanagh & Omagh District Council 2 5 3 3 0 0 13

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council 5 0 3 1 1 1 (TUV) 11

Mid & East Antrim Borough Council 5 1 3 0 1 2 (TUV/UKIP) 12

Mid Ulster District Council 3 6 4 3 0 0 16

Newry, Mourne & Down District Council 1 4 1 4 1 1 (Indpendent) 12

Public Affairs

Public Affairs Approach

• Political decision making has already taken place

• Can be swayed by a vocal minority

• Access to MPs and 108 MLAs at an advantage over other jurisdictions

• Cllrs, MPs and MLAs are ‘Peer Influencers’ of planning committee

• Engage them early, let them identify issues and objectors

• Give them tools and messaging to inform a response

Public Relations

Communications Strategy

• Info in the public domain early

• Everything can be shared

• Agree strategy early, even just Q&As

• Be proactive in press and online

• Be a good new source to the media – press releases and briefings

• Shape the environment by controlling the flow of information

• Be multi-disciplinary, multi-channel and maintain presence throughout

Community Consultation

Community Consultation Approach

• Challenge isn’t to represent all views

• It is to motivate ‘uninvolved majority’

• People who unless pro-actively asked - won’t offer their view

• Plan Recruitment of your Public Event

• Two categories or people pro-actively attend:

- Soft Objectors: personal concerns to be answered

- Hard Objectors: object on principle

• Public Displays vs Town Hall / Community Meetings

• Polling & Petitioning proactively seeks views – will more reliably present a representative sample

• Face-to-face will always be at the core

Digital Media

Engagement

21 hrs Per week

Digital and Social Media Approach

• Direct engagement:

- Facebook (65% of NI adults)

- Twitter (33% of NI adults)

• A majority of NI Cllrs, MPs, and MLAs are on Twitter and/or Facebook

• Email is as reliable as hard copy mail

• Average person in NI spends 21 hrs and 36 minutes a week online*

• Smartphone use is up (2/3 of adults) - Information needs to be clear and simple

• Predominantly information sharing – link pictures, videos, infographics – a picture paints 1000 words

• Be aware it is a conversation – one simple rule applies – DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS

* According to

Ulster Bank / Ofcom (October 2015)

Over-arching themes

In summary: • Multidisciplinary, multiphase and multichannel

• Inclusive and proactive

• Requirements reflect complexity

• Any scale of project will benefit even local

development applications

• Clear simple messages tailored to their audience and outlet

• Reported rigorously – captures the views of the ‘uninformed majority’

• Adapts to community or customer, or adapts your proposals