With the postponement of the London Mayoral elections, Collective Community Action (a diverse group of individuals, from educators and developers to architects and community activists) saw an opportunity. If we presented clear, well-evidenced proposals, would candidates champion better public engagement with a Mayoral Statement of Community Involvement (MSCI) if elected? Centre for London picked up the challenge and, with input from CCA and others, produced Public Planning: A Manifesto for London.
The NLA Community Think Tank was an opportunity for feedback on these proposals. CCA members Gabrielle Appiah (Soundings) and Simon Donovan (MHDT) highlighted the inadequacies of existing practices and outlinedactions the Mayor is asked to commit to: prepare an MSCI; establish Mayor’s Community Advocates (like Mayor’s Design Advocates); introduce a scorecard to help councillors assess the quality of engagement; launch an accreditation scheme to promote good practice; fund training programmes for local authority officers, councillors and community members; and require place-based audits to understand the value of what already exists and the contribution of local knowledge to the planning process.
In the ensuing discussion there was broad agreement that community engagement must happen early enough for people to have proper influence in the process, such as in preparing Local and Neighbourhood Plans; that this must become routine and rooted in a thorough understanding of places gained through ‘characterisation studies’ or ‘asset-mapping’. It was suggested that audits would be particularly valuable alongside post-occupancy surveys, to understand and share lessons learnt.
There’s growing awareness, it was felt, of the the benefits of greater trust, transparency and buy-in. The importance was stressed of feeding findings back to people, so they know what changes they prompted and receive credit for their ideas; but also the need to be honest about what they can and cannot influence. Using digital means was considered important in ensuring people feel they’ve been heard, providing opportunities to go back to people and therefore involving them in an iterative process. Large datasets are also helpful in demonstrating strength of local opinion, for instance to planning committees. One suggestion was to create Community Data Trusts to hold that data.
The idea for Mayor’s Community Advocates was well received and considered readily achievable, along with other steps to improve education and demystify the planning process.
Regarding enforcement, there was agreement on the need to set high minimum standards – a benchmark all must reach. Perhaps the proposed accreditation could be similar to the Considerate Constructor programme?
Developers must believe they are ‘investing’ in quality engagement, hopefully convinced by increasing data that this makes good commercial sense.
Who, though, is going to be responsible for delivering and funding this? Questions, it was felt, the MSCI should address. One suggestion was that developers can afford to do so, while another was for local companies to be incentivised to be involved.
With Sadiq Khan newly re-elected, it is emerging that plans for an MSCI are indeed underway.
