Vision
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” Jane Jacobs
Placemaking is the ethos for design and planning processes in Nottingham. This guide sets the threshold of what is an acceptable level of community engagement in Nottingham City. Community engagement needs to begin as soon as there is an intention to submit a proposal for pre-application or planning permission, and must continue through the design process, setting up frameworks that allow communities to build upon the learnings of the process. Engagement shall create a culture of collaboration and trust, where all parties understand their limitations from the outset so that they can contribute according to their capacities and in relation to their roles.
NOTE: “Early discussion between applicants, the local planning authority and local community about the design and style of emerging schemes is important for clarifying expectations and reconciling local and commercial interests. Applicants should work closely with those affected by their proposals to evolve designs that take account of the views of the community. Applications that can demonstrate early, proactive and effective engagement with the community should be looked on more favourably than those that cannot.” (NPPF 12.137).
Engagement Criteria
CE.1 Outreach & inclusion
CE.1.1 Describe how the consultation programme will be advertised, when and why
CE.1.2 Describe how all demographic groups in the area will be adequately informed and given appropriate, tailored means to participate
CE.1.3 Show a timeline, table, schedule or programme illustrating the outreach methods and dates; the title of dates and times events and the dates and methods that will be used to give feedback and updates to the public
CE.2 Tools & strategies
CE.2.1 Describe the tools and strategies that will be used to achieve community input and why these were considered appropriate for the case
CE.2.2 Describe the questions asked and the answer options given, and why these questions were considered to be the most appropriate for the demographics of the area
CE.2.3 Explain how special needs will be catered for during the events (e.g. access, interpretation, audio equipment, etc.)
CE.3 Data collection & analysis
CE.3.3 Detail how many people participated in each event, survey or questionnaire
CE.3.2 Explain how the data was recorded and analysed (e.g. survey software, cloud word analysis, etc.)
CE.3.3 List the key findings on the basis of quantitative and qualitative analysis
CE.3.4 Explain how the results of the engagement informed the proposals or the changes made during the design process
CE.4 Community building
CE.4.1 Explain how the community engagement process delivered aspects of social sustainability (see definition on the right)
CE.4.2 Explain how the community engagement delivered aspects of place psychology
CE.5 Engagement brief
CE.5.1 Submit a detailed engagement brief addressing each stage of the design process (concept, developed, detailed) with the minimum content listed below. This document can be draft, it does not need to be a finished product as it is assumed that the engagement process will be flexible and might change along the way to adapt to community responses
Outreach strategy
How events, contact details and opportunities to find information were strategically advertised so that all demographics have an opportunity to participate in the process
Methods applied
How the different components of the engagement process were planned and why. How data was gathered, processed and fed back to the community
Participation rates
How many people participated and how, the demographics of participants and a brief commentary on lessons learnt. This session aims to inform future consultations in the area and gain a better understanding of our communities
Questions asked
What were the questions asked, why those questions were the most appropriate and how the responses were documented
Results
Data emerging from the events and data analysis in the context of the proposed development
Conclusions
Interpretation of the preliminary results in the context of the scheme/proposals and explanations of how these results have informed aspects of the scheme or changes to the proposals
Downloads
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Community Engagement Strategy Appraisal Form - A PDF can be downloaded after completing the form.
Community Engagement Appraisal Tool (coming soon)
CE.6 Communication & follow up
CE.6.1 Establish a single point of contact for everyone to get in touch
CE.6.2 Establish a dedicated platform to inform and communicate during the design and planning process
CE.6.3 Keep information updates regularly about the results of engagement events and how these informed schemes. Ensure the platform has equal access to all parties, and participants are informed of the time-frames and location of this information from the outset