Welcome to the UK Consult, our occasional ramble through all things about public consultation and citizen engagement in the UK, with special guests and lovely examples of online public consultation from around the world!

In this episode, public consultation in planning expert and author, Penny Norton, and Jonno talk about the new ebook, “Considering Consultation Content: Views from the Development Industry.”

Based on Penny’s own research and interviews with key stakeholders from the development industry find out what Penny and Jonathan think about this often overlooked part of public consultation and the planning process, consultation content.

"People in Planning: Is Consultation Content the Missing Piece of the Puzzle?"

Main Topics and Key Questions

Has Penny discovered a new territory for discussion? Is this another part of the art of public consultation that requires a tad more scrutiny? How did Penny end up exploring this important topic?Why is trust a big issue when it comes to consultation content?Hear about Penny's views on the big gap between residents' expectations and what developers need or want to talk about? How do we choose the subjects for discussion? Jonno thinks that if he was a developer he would really be stuck between running a consultation where everything is under consideration or locking things down so that the scope is really narrow and mainly covers material planning considerations only. Penny has lots to say about this and tries to summarise it for listeners (despite the absence of diagrams on the radio!) Listen to Penny talk about differing views on the ability of consultees to engage in technical details. Jonno says people do want to talk about parking. They do want to talk about local traffic. But Penny makes it clear that they will often be out of scope. What can be done? Should developers be prepared to always embrace contentious subjects rather than shy away from difficult conversations? Find out about funneling content over a development’s timeline? We can’t do diagrams on the radio but Penny tries to describe it (again)?And finally, what did Penny learn from this research?

Download People in Planning Considering Consultation Content: Views from the Development Industry

Join our webinar where Penny will present her findings and some exclusive content (diagrams included)

Penny Norton, UK consultant specialist and associate of the Consultation Institute, is going to sit down with Jonno on Wed, 30 June at 10 AM BST to discuss the release of her new ebook and stress the importance of consultation content in the community engagement process. Please book and share! https://www.bangthetable.com/blog/webinar-people-planning-consultation-content/

Until next time!