Module 4: How to Advocate
Hannah Yu-Pearson
Centric Lab
Featuring:
Mark Warren
London Borough of Merton
In this lesson Town Centre Manager Mark Warren speaks with us about how local councils go about engaging the public and the mechanisms through which engagement happens. He gives us some advice on how best to utilise council resources to further community projects and how important it is to find someone on the inside to support you.
Key Learnings: Definitions
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Consultation is a process of dialogue with residents and stakeholders, which usually has a defined start and end date, and informs a decision about a proposal, policy, or service change.
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The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge which can be levied by local authorities on new development in their area. It is an important tool for local authorities to use to help them deliver the infrastructure needed to support development in their area. Most new development which creates net additional floor space of 100 square metres or more, or creates a new dwelling, is potentially liable for the levy.
The levy can be used to fund a wide range of infrastructure, including transport, flood defences, schools, hospitals, and other health and social care facilities. This definition allows the levy to be used to fund a very broad range of facilities such as play areas, open spaces, parks and green spaces, cultural and sports facilities, healthcare facilities, academies and free schools, district heating schemes and police stations and other community safety facilities. This flexibility gives local areas the opportunity to choose what infrastructure they need to deliver their relevant plan (the Development Plan and the London Plan in London). Some councils have a CIL pot of developer contributions whereby local residents can apply to use this money for their own community projects. -
A local plan is a document created by a local planning authority that sets a vision and framework for development in an area, guiding where new housing, jobs, and infrastructure will go and protecting the environment. It is a legal document that serves as the starting point for deciding local planning applications.
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Planning permission is formal approval from a local authority to undertake development or make changes to land and buildings, such as building, extending, or changing a property's use. It ensures developments align with local planning policies, design standards, and the overall impact on the environment and community, and is required before most significant building work begins.
Key Learnings: Our Thoughts
Consultation is on a specific subject matter and seeking feedback on it, engagement is much more informal, sometimes targeted, but oftentimes loose and where the seeds of ideas come to play. Engagement is not end-oriented, it is often the starting point.
Councillors are elected to represent you so definitely be in touch with them.
Everything is subject to funding and resources in the council, so collaboration with the community is an opportunity to complete better projects because the energy and want is in the community group and the council gives the permission and funding to do it.
Every planning application will have a consultation period, this is statutory. You can respond to feedback and gather evidence to support feedback, and steer policy and plans.
If it is a major planning application it will go through more formal engagement processes, positively engaging early on is important to present local needs and wants. Often people come to the table a bit too late.
Mark encourages transparent processes but all developers are different, strongly urging the public to go out and communicate to council because otherwise they won’t take into account community voice.
The early stage in plans is where there is the most opportunity.
Council processes are very complex, how can projects be funded and delivered rests on many things
Neighbourhood CIL in Mitcham, community groups and residents can apply to use that money to deliver their own projects, and there are many different pots of money. Find a very clear definition of your project and then find ways to link it to other things that can help with funding. E.g. If you are working on air quality, could you involve culture, this means not only are you applying for funding for climate but also for culture, so you are opening the opportunities and possibilities.
Put your feelers out because your neighbours and those in your area may be experts or working in this same field, having an evidence base is really important, understanding how policy works. Do your homework and come to the table equipped to get legitimate interest and backing from the council.
Get stuck in and embed yourself in what you believe in.
The council is big and can seem monolithic, it is like a sandcastle made up of lots of grains of sand, and many people within the council are approachable so put your feelers out to see where you can be supported. Not everyone in the council is bad, and the council deals with so much more than double yellow lines and bin collection. Find specific council officers and engage them directly
What in this lesson stood out for you?
Prompts
These questions are framed to help you apply your own experience and perspectives to points raised in this lesson.
If you are preparing to provide feedback for a consultation process, or resisting a planning application, get to know the skills and expertise of those in your community. Are any of your community in the legal profession, in health or housing, etc? Bringing in a strong evidence base that crosses lived experience and ‘technical’ input (legal or medical voices) can take your voice further.
Check out the Community Infrastructure Levy fund at your local authority and see if there are any opportunities for your community group to apply to use this funding for your own projects. Sometimes applications under a certain amount (e.g. £50k) can be granted without feasibility checks etc.
Find local authority officers from different departments that can signpost you to projects, people, funding or engagement opportunities. Having someone on the inside will help you navigate these bureaucratic and complex processes. They can be found through the council website, or social media like LinkedIn.
Next Lesson:
Module 4 Lesson 3.3