Flood Alleviation Scheme

For five years we have been preparing and delivering consultation and engagement work to this major infrastructure project. This has involved a member of our team working out on site for 16 months as a Public Liaison Officer promoting the scheme to local residents, dealing with their concerns and liaising with the contractor to minimise adverse construction effects.

Flood Alleviation Scheme

This is the most sensitive consultation programme we have ever had to undertake. Working in the recently flooded Northumbrian market town we worked with the Environment Agency to explain why their homes and town had been flooded and what could realistically be done to stop it happening it again. It is always sobering to see people in such a state of despair and recognise how your work actually affects people’s wellbeing.

Events

Bi-lingual consultations were at the heart of testing ideas with local communities and technical officers around Anglesey’s beautiful coastline. We designed and helped to deliver a programme of events including public meetings, design surgeries, round island boat trip and a grand public launch attended by Welsh Assembly Government Ministers. A summary of all these activities provided an evidence base for local involvement and help draw down £5.6 million of European Grant.

Flood Alleviation Scheme

Tri-lingual consultation this time with English, Urdu and Hindi versions of display boards and information leaflets to explain the proposals behind this flood scheme. The display was used as a ‘road-tour’ that went around public buildings including libraries, town hall and mosques. It was sometimes staffed but also acted as a stand-alone display. The work and community feedback acted as the central part of the scheme’s Statement of Community Involvement to win planning consent.

Action Plan

Community engagement and capacity building was the focus for this work. We prepared a Communication Action Plan and targeted those people with a key interest in the park including clubs and surrounding residential neighbours. There was initial fear about the proposals and specific concern at vandalism. The legacy of this work was the formation of a Friends Group and an Angling Club to manage the park’s lake. Face painters were employed for family consultation events.

Water Treatment Works

Targeted consultation with adjacent residential neighbours broke down barriers between the site’s operators and local people. It explained what was being proposed, when and how it would be built and identified reasonable constraints with local people so they had a chance to positively shape the development of a works extension. Meetings were held in people’s homes and a tour of the plant arranged so they could understand the processes that went on there.

Padiham

An existing Friends group at Memorial Park introduced us to people who had a key stake in the park’s refurbishment. Working with them we were able to design questionnaires, hold text surveys and target hard to reach groups such as young people. We developed an inter-generational questionnaire for the project that had school children interview older family members and neighbours about how they used to use the park.

Cheshire

High calorie consultation with a series of lunches and coffee mornings at local pubs and tearooms to encourage local businesses to engage with the project. We petitioned them with a ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch – but this is as near as damn it!’ flyer and encouraged them to talk about the problems they experienced and how they felt the valley park could be better promoted and accessed.

Severn Estuary

This was a series of technical seminars and telephone conferences held with landscape experts from both the Welsh and English side of the Severn estuary. It was designed to build their confidence and approval of the methodology used to assess landscape and visual impacts for the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the five different barrage and lagoon options under consideration.

Flood Alleviation Scheme

Working in the Leeman Road area of York the challenge for this consultation was to convince people that they remain at risk of flooding without being alarmist or cause undue concern. Initial interest was low so we have designed future consultation to engage with crowds at local schools at pick-up time and make invites to future events more informative and attractive to read.