The challenge of engaging with residents who do not typically participate in consultations, is a longstanding one. And one which exists across many sectors, not just in Planning. However, there are tactics you can use to encourage participation from those unheard voices, while minimising additional workload for the council.
Small councils are particularly resource-poor, yet you know your communities better than any developer or larger council. Your role is key in shaping the final design of an NSIP. It is imperative that you reach a diversity of people without overloading yourself with even more meetings, administration and deadlines.
Form working groups
Creating working groups focusing on specific themes, e.g. climate change, in your community can help you deliver the work efficiently. Working closely with other councils, local volunteers and other partners enables you to share your resources; spread the workload among members, and find solutions councils and other group member.
Balance engagement activities
Understanding how to use your time wisely is the foundation of your community engagement. If you over-extend yourself, the engagement may not be to a quality you would like. So, ideally, assessing what you can manage is a good first step.
Having said that, engagement can be unpredictable so you cannot prepare for every detail. But by keeping your engagement activities focused, you at least have the chance to avoid intensifying an already pressured situation.
Is setting up multiple one-to-one conversations realistic? Whether you meet people in a local café, pub or library, one-to-one meetings can be valuable in understanding local concerns among highly engaged community members.
However, using your valuable time this way may take your attention away from engaging with other local people, particularly those who do not usually participate in consultations and require different engagement approaches.
By thinking about the use of your time in the weeks running up to the consultation, you can strive to manage the public’s expectations in regards to your availability while turning your mind to communities who are less engaged.
Prompt engagement with simple questions!
Shape questions in a way to can prompt engagement. Pinning one simple question on local noticeboards can encourage engagement among passersby. You can also translate the question into other languages if needed.
Once prepared, the feedback becomes a passive exercise with minimal input from you or colleagues. Be aware that any responses to a simple question are not formal representations, and people must go to the consultation website to have their opinions considered. Be transparent about this when using prompts like this.
These example questions can nudge people to visit the consultation website:
“What should be a priority for the proposed project?”
“What should the developer protect most if the proposed project goes ahead?”
“What would make the proposed project unacceptable for you?”
Noting common themes in existing information
Practices from other sectors can help if applied carefully – and this is one: noticing common themes in information the council already receives, or that is publicly visible – such as emails to the council, questions raised at meetings, public social media posts, or comments responding to council updates or local news.
Anything picked up in this way should be treated as background context only, not as consultation evidence. You should not count it, record it or attribute it to individuals.
Its role is to help you understand what issues are coming up, spot where information may need clarifying, and point residents to the formal consultation website to have their say. Councils should always be clear that only views submitted through the official consultation process will be considered for the NSIP decision
Collaborations in the community
As well as collaborating with other councils on NSIP work, consider partnering with local community organisations to cascade engagement to more people.
Be they young families, people from migrant backgrounds or the disability community, by exploring opportunities with partners you could encourage more diverse feedback.
Consider approaching schools, colleges, employers, libraries, leisure centres, places of worship and voluntary groups.
You can ask partners to work efficiently by ‘piggybacking’ existing events (such as toddler and parent mornings, cultural venues, nature walks, football matches and bingo), to signpost people to the consultation.
They can of course also share information on their social media accounts. However they help, it is critical that these partners remain neutral and act only as consultation conduits.