Consultation Hub | Page 8

From the first planning meeting to the placing of the last brick, property development relies heavily on positive communication with the local community.  But as the way in which people communicate changes, is the development community keeping up to speed, and are we making the most of the benefits that online communication offers? The internet ...

Initially I included a section on cost efficiency in my series of blog posts on the principles of best practice in online consultation. Then I questioned whether cost efficiency was a feature of best practice. I determined that saving money in itself is not a measure by which to judge the success of a consultation. ...

The internet revolution presents the development community with huge potential to transform public consultation on planning applications, but this is yet to be fully realised. Planning authorities are now required to post applications online, local residents discuss and debate development proposals via social media and in blogs, and the media gathers these views to inform ...

Communication with local residents usually starts during the planning process, but it certainly doesn’t end there.  Whether you’re refurbishing an existing building or creating a new scheme, the immediate community, local groups and potential users / purchasers will want to understand what’s being done and the timescales involved. They may also be interested to receive ...

Article published in Construction Manager, 1 September 2015

Communication with local residents isn’t complete when a school or university is granted planning consent – in many respects it’s just beginning.  The local community – nearby residents, future pupils and staff and the wider community – will need to understand what’s proposed, will want to know the timescales involved, and may be interested to ...

Communication with local residents usually starts during the planning process, but it certainly doesn’t end there.  The immediate community, local groups and potential users / purchasers will want to understand what’s being built and the timescales involved. They may also be interested to receive regular updates.  Equally it may be useful to have the contact ...

Planning permission will break any potential hotel development but is widely recognised as being a bit of a minefield – perhaps more so than ever now public consultation is required for the majority of planning applications. Added, to that local residents are becoming increasing aware of their role in the planning system and how they ...

ConsultOnline has launched the mini consultation (or community relations) website to provide a simple website suitable for a small development. Typically, the website would follow a four-page structure with text, images, maps, poll-style questions, an opportunity to register for updates and send further comments to the team. ConsultOnline will produce a report at the end ...

I am frequently asked whether clients who run more than one consultation using ConsultOnline can benefit financially from doing so. My response is to provide all subsequent website not only cheaper, but effectively free. With the multi-location consultation or community relations website the client buys a single website, a single URL and pays for the ...

My role in providing an online consultation tool and service isn’t simply to get a stamp of approval from the local community for my clients.  Of course I want to support my clients in gaining support for their proposals.  But my role is to run a good consultation, not simply to get good results. ConsultOnline ...

After running several consultations using the ConsultOnline model it is very clear that the success off ConsultOnline is due to two things: 1/ residents having access to a substantial amount of information, in a variety of formats – enabling them to feel genuinely informed and engaged 2/ the ability of the website to provide excellent ...