Stakeholder engagement

Introduction

During the development of your evidence, you should have engaged with a range of stakeholders (see stakeholder engagement in the principles of an evidence base section) and this process should have helped you produce a robust, locally relevant evidence base.

Now that you are considering translating your evidence into policy, a key area of focus for your engagement activities should be to gather opinion on the likely impact of your proposed policies and targets. You should present the results of any feasibility and viability testing you have done (see Testing Policies & Targets) and these should demonstrate the practical and financial issues which might come about as a result of policy implementation. This might include demonstrating to a land owner the potential financial performance of a standalone LZC or illustrating to a developer the benefit of achieving a certain level of carbon compliance using a DHN rather than on-site solutions.

Who to engage

You should continue to engage with the groups mentioned on the principles of an evidence base stakeholder engagement page and it may also be beneficial to now consider broadening your engagement. Others which it may be useful to engage with include:

Local Community Groups

When to engage: Preparation of development plans and drafting local planning policies.
Role: Community groups represent local people’s ideas and concerns. Their input is crucial to generate support for the development of specific sites and in promoting wider pro-environmental behaviour.

Environmental Groups

When to engage: Early consultation during the development of policy can help establish realistic expectations and reduce objection to specific projects at a later stage.
Role: Environmental groups often have access to research or data which can be of use in the development of policy and site specific applications.

Individuals

When to engage: The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill will require public involvement in the design and delivery of local public services.
Role: You should of course endeavour to involve a wide range of people in the planning process, and to ensure full involvement from groups which have not previously played a large part. Public consultation is important and participation should be promoted widely and offer different ways for people to get involved.

Further information

The Housing and Communities Agency (HCA) have a considerable amount of information on their website around engagement with the public. This is a section of the HCA Practice Giude to the Climate Change PPS. The section on Stakeholder and public involvement can be found here

Climate Change Partnerships bring together public, private, voluntary and academic organisations, including national and EU links, to advise on the impacts of climate change on the region’s economic, social and environmental well being. It may be useful for you to discuss with them any support they may be able to offer feeding directly into your work or acting as a link to some of the groups you would like to engage with. You can find contact information for South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership here