Contents

1. Introduction...........................................................................................3 2. Advantages of an area action plan......................................................5

2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.1.5 2.1.6 2.1.7 2.1.8 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.4 Working on documents in parallel...................................................... 5 Joint working between authorities...................................................... 6 Clarity through a statutory framework ................................................ 6 Alternative approaches...................................................................... 7 Investment opportunities ................................................................... 8 A Blueprint for investment................................................................ 9 Raising the corporate profile............................................................ 10 Community involvement .................................................................. 11 Forming the right group ................................................................... 12 Councillor buy-in ............................................................................. 13 Working with partners...................................................................... 15 Working with developers ................................................................. 16

3. Governance, corporate and partner buy-in ......................................12

4. Evidence gathering.............................................................................17
4.1.1 Writing a clear brief ......................................................................... 17 4.1.2 Prioritising evidence ........................................................................ 18 4.1.3 Taking a proportionate approach..................................................... 18

5. Community engagement ....................................................................21

5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.1.4 5.1.5 5.1.6 Starting off....................................................................................... 21 The wider community ...................................................................... 22 Flexibility in approach...................................................................... 23 Working with partners...................................................................... 24 Making the most of existing networks .............................................. 26 Thinking about urban and rural areas differently.............................. 27

6. Monitoring and flexibility ...................................................................29

1. Introduction
This case study looks at how 13 authorities have developed action area plans (AAPs) and other development plan documents (DPDs). The authorities have used innovative ways to deliver identified needs. This study will highlight good practice and key things to consider when writing your own plans. The study examines five key themes and the different ways that authorities have approached them: advantages of area action plans governance and buy-in evidence gathering community engagement monitoring and flexibility.

It should be seen as a starting point, offering ideas and options for you to consider, rather than a rulebook to follow. Area action plans are one useful tool in ensuring a proactive, managed approach to change in an area. They are part of the development plan and provide certainty to developers and the community. Produced in the right way, they are community-owned and set the priorities that council and residents alike want to see delivered. We think that action area plans will remain part of the planning framework, but in any event, some of the experiences outlined here will be useful for future local and neighbourhood plan making. The authorities visited were: Birmingham City Council and Bromsgrove District Council Hull City Council London Borough of Barnet London Borough of Redbridge London Borough of Wandsworth Newcastle City Council Plymouth City Council and South Hams District Council

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames South Cambridgeshire District Council Southwark Council Wakefield Council

2. Advantages of an area action plan

The authorities in this report found their area action plans are a useful part of the Local Development Framework, providing both procedural and practical benefits. Procedural benefits: Doing work in parallel with other documents saves time and resources. Doing work with neighbouring authorities maximises impact and can meet more aspirations. Adopting a plan through a statutory process provides clarity. An AAP is not the only way of dealing with delivery in smaller areas.

Practical benefits: An AAP shows a commitment to delivery that leads to increased interest in investment from developers and attracts funding from partners. It raises the corporate profile of planning. Involving the community from the outset leads to buy-in and ownership. It is one way of introducing new policy where there is a gap.

2.1.1 Working on documents in parallel

In South Cambridgeshire, the council set out to run all their DPDs and the core strategy in parallel. The 3 AAPs had many common elements, such as energy strategy and affordable housing, for example. It was therefore a sensible approach to work on them at the same time. The council decided very early on that there was a need for a very clear steer on what the public authorities were looking for across all areas of the development, and therefore all DPDs. The work was split into topic groups and frontloaded. Evidence needed to be built up first, which prevents the public from developing unrealistic proposals or expectations. The plans are in place in time to deal with proposals, regardless of the downturn. This, Keith Miles suggests, is proof that the planning system can work. In Wakefield, work on the development policies DPD was carried out in parallel with the core strategy. This led to major time savings on work such as the sustainability appraisal

and the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA). In particular, carrying out joint consultation meant that the community were also not subject to consultation fatigue.

2.1.2 Joint working between authorities

Birmingham and Bromsgrove councils worked jointly on an AAP for the site at Longbridge, a former car plant and major employer in the area. Once the plant closed, the Government set up a task force to cover key issues, such as worklessness, and the need for training. The two councils recognised they had a large strategic site that required a plan led approach. The task force and officers at all levels championed the site as tailor made for an AAP. The added value of the AAP is particularly important for Bromsgrove, as they secured the use they wanted on their part of the site. Longbridge has always been high on the list of priorities for public sector funding, and the commitment became clear in the AAP. By going through the formal route and partnering with Birmingham, Bromsgrove were able to achieve far more than they would have on their own. Having the City as a partner meant a small district authority has been able to deal with the main developer on a level footing.

2.1.3 Clarity through a statutory framework

The London Plan was coming forward with a policy of consolidation for Kingston town centre. The council made the decision against the background of revising an out-of-date (in terms of a town centre strategy) unitary development plan (UDP), which also had a similar policy of consolidation. The council recognised that the town centre was the lifeblood of the local economy. It was therefore imperative to get the policy framework changed and to be proactive in getting the town centre regenerated. Officers realised they couldnt have done this with the UDP policies in place. The AAP gave the council the policy framework needed to get the sites coming forward. It also provided the framework for infrastructure and other things that needed to be improved, such as public realm.

2.1.4 Alternative approaches

Developing area spatial strategies Wandsworth had no history of producing local area plans and decided not to take forward any area action plans as such. When they came to the site-specific allocations document (SSAD), officers realised there were areas where there was a concentration of sites. They proposed to have area spatial strategies dealing with areas of greatest change in the Borough all in one go. There are eight such areas in the SSAD. This is far quicker than doing eight different AAPs. The strategies range in size from four or five sites up to the Nine Elms Area SS, with over 30 sites and 13,00016,000 new homes. Only having to take one document through the examination system rather than if they had chosen to produce AAPs for all nine areas was a huge time and resource saver. Martin Howell adds that they probably wouldnt have taken an AAP forward for some of the smaller ones, but this is a more flexible approach enabling us to put forward strategies for smaller sites as well as larger ones. There are at least four very significant areas within the SSAD. Martin believes you have to weigh up the relative benefit of each approach. We have gained in some areas with specific proposals for sites, and the community involvement that has generated. We are clear about community feelings on at least those areas. It is also good for them to see this as part of the same process, rather than an applications or plans process. It must be seen together. Using supplementary planning guidance At Kingston, the council was originally going to do the AAP for the town centre and then one for each of their district centres. However, because the policy framework didnt need to change for the other centres, officers felt they didnt need an AAP for them. When asked if having an up-to-date and adopted core strategy would have made a difference to this decision, Pat Loxton responded that they would probably still have done an AAP for the town centre. This is because the scale of change is considered too great. So although having an up-to-date policy framework is a key driver in this decision, scale of change may ultimately determine whether an AAP is produced as opposed to a less formal plan.

Taking a supplementary planning guidance approach to the district centres meant officers could do something simpler in about a year for these centres. The council produced a regeneration strategy that supports and supplements other documents, and the core strategy. It is also area-based guidance. The council still did local consultation, but didnt need the policy framework for the district centres, over and above that in the UDP. However, the strategies will still be used as a document for bidding purposes. Having a regeneration strategy rather than relying on higher-level policy and a number of plans means the council is taking a holistic view, rather than a piecemeal approach. This leads to a far better chance of coordinating investment and delivering aspirations. Officers were of the view that there was already a satisfactory overarching policy framework. There was nothing inherently wrong with any of the policies, unlike in the town centre, and so it was more a question of just trying to improve the areas, but in the direction already set out in the UDP. There is therefore a choice to be made about the approach that you take in bringing forward plans for an area, which will depend on the policy framework as well as the scale of change proposed.

2.1.5 Investment opportunities

At Hull, Nicholas Harne believes that doing the AAP means there is a deliverable and affordable way of levering in funding. It shows clarity for HCA and others in deciding on funding. If there are compulsory purchase orders, you have an up-to-date plan that has been examined. This provides certainty to investors. The city has a number of regeneration areas as priorities. If you are coming in to invest, where will the council be looking to help you invest? The answer is in the AAP areas. The council priority is therefore clear. Indeed, this AAP is one of the clearly defined topthree priorities for the city. At Plymouth and South Hams, once the AAP is finished, the key allocations get handed to a named co-ordinator in the delivery team. They talk to developers to unblock problems, and ask why things arent happening as set out in the plan. The site is then passed over to development management to facilitate.

Richard Grant added: The AAP is the template and statement of aims and objectives what you show to an investor and developer first. AAPs are almost marketing brochures. Through them you should be looking to tell a story and persuade people to come in and invest. Both councils acknowledged that things have happened at a greater rate and of higher quality in the past 10 years than any other time previously. These plans attract the developers. However, Lee Bray suggests it is important to note that it is the entire process you go through that helps get the investment, not just the final plan. All the engagement work is crucial. If the developers are aware of work on an AAP, then their contributions can be picked up to help shape the evidence base and see how it fits into the overall picture. Having the AAP prevents piecemeal development and individual interests coming forward.

2.1.6 A Blueprint for investment

Using the AAP to attract investment has been taken a step further at Redbridge. Here, one of the three AAPs that the council brought forward dealt with Ilford town centre. Even before the AAP was adopted it became clear that there was significant developer interest in the area as a result of working on the strategy. The council came up with the idea of presenting the Ilford town centre AAP in a form that explained rather better what kind of place they wanted Ilford to become. This gives investors clarity about the kind of opportunities on offer. As John Pearce, Planning Policy Manager, explains: The idea was really to present the dream in a 3D format, illustrate the sites that are potentially available, and be aware that developers will ask questions about the sites themselves, so provide links to information about these sites. The Blueprint provides context to growth in Ilford and the advantages that provides (eg good schools, green belt and open space, access corridors). It focuses on all aspects of the area and not just land use. The premise is to create the idea that everyone should come to Ilford, and show that there is potential. The planning officers also lifted the more heavy planning constraints (eg building heights) in order to be more flexible. In the words of John Pearce: If you promote something strongly enough, particularly around a vision, people will believe it.

A mix of two policy officers and a regeneration colleague worked on the project. The Leader was also interested in promoting investment opportunity. He was excited by the opportunities the AAP generated and wanted to put it in an inspiring and easy to look at format. The council sent a specification to a number of IT suppliers with an urban design bent. It transpired there were very few around who could do that. Virtual Viewing had access to a lot of expertise in a variety of fields. They had people who could provide a local government urban design feel, and who understood that what the council was after was quite different and unique. They also had the IT capacity. Redbridge provided the background data and information on sites, working on a storybook approach. Overall, the work cost 50k. It is a flexible tool, and can be developed and updated as information is available. This can be updated in house in future. It provides a strong case for the inward investment function of regeneration. The council owns the intellectual property, and there has been a lot of strong response in the authority. The Ilford Blueprint was launched at investor conferences. It has already won an award: The SOCITM 2010 Local Government IT Excellence Award. The council may set up an inward investment unit to deal with the level of enquiries now coming through.

2.1.7 Raising the corporate profile

In Plymouth Richard Grant emphasised that work on any plan doesnt end at adoption. There has to be a corporate understanding. The Sherford AAP has shaped an ongoing set of negotiations with the developer, with the key issues around elements of the S106 agreement. The AAP is the template shaping these negotiations. Although the council is finding that elements of the plan are difficult to deliver in the recession, the very strong sign up does mean the most important elements are pretty much immutable. Lee Bray added that without the AAP, there would be just another suburb growing out across the open fields. The AAP allows flexibility in a document that will have statutory clout. It also promotes buy-in as well. Once it is clear the authority means business, you get buy-in from the sector and from the community. They see the benefit of having a plan with weight, and can see why to get into it. In Birmingham and Bromsgrove it has been very easy to get buy-in and sign up to Longbridge as a priority. The AAP has helped keep it on the agenda when there are priorities elsewhere. It was also a specific priority in the RSS in terms of technology. There was never any suggestion that there was any lack of investment, and the AAP helped with the wider strategic angle and raising the profile of planning in the councils.

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2.1.8 Community involvement

In Hull, having the AAP also lets the community know there is change going on and they can be listened to. In these times of a localism agenda, an AAP is effectively their voice translated into policy, under a statutory framework. Although using supplementary planning guidance may also work, Nicholas Harne feels that this would lack a bit of framework to hang it off. The AAP was really considered the only option, but it was a good option. In South Cambridgeshire, having the AAP was a good way of providing certainty to the public over what is going to happen, and also what isnt. For example, with large numbers of houses being proposed, the public can see that development in one area may show there is no need to develop in another. This is particularly important in considering new settlements as the clarity provided by the plan can be used to address issues raised by residents. In Southwark, there has been very strong commitment of the residents in these financially strapped times. They keep making sure the councillors know what a priority it is for them, and therefore the ward councillors are really pushing it forward. They are very keen on delivery. Residents really use it to say to councillors you have to deliver this because you have a plan that says so. This is a very powerful message. This gives confidence to the authority to stand by what is in there. It shows the power of involvement. Why is something going to get built and why is it in the plan? Evidence has power. Planners have a more positive role in the development process, and as a result, are starting to speak the developers language.

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3. Governance, corporate and partner buy-in

This section looks at some examples of good governance arrangements, and who was involved. The main lessons on governance are that: successful plans require a high level of political and corporate buy-in it is important to establish good working relationships with key partners preferably early in the process setting up a specific working body or structure can help the level of partnership should be linked to the needs of the plan and the issues it is addressing.

3.1.1 Forming the right group

One of the keys to a successful plan is the early set up of a dedicated group of the right people to make decisions and take forward actions. In Barnet, the Colindale AAP deals with a residential area, in which the Metropolitan Police have a large amount of land. The council involved the right people themselves (with the Cabinet lead as Chair), the GLA, the Metropolitan Police and Fairview (a key developer) in a steering group. It was progressed by a working group that included the local strategic partnership, Barnet College, and developers and landowners with sites or consents in the area. The cabinet lead was able to give confidence to the whole process. As a result, there is a good working relationship between the council and key players. Birmingham and Bromsgrove got political buy-in right from the start. Back in 2005, a paper Statement of Principles was agreed by the council, the joint working group with the key developer/landowner and other stakeholders, and Cabinet. This helped

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ensure cross-authority councillor (and MP) buy-in. It also set out to all those on the task force that they needed to have economic-led regeneration on the site meeting strategic needs, brought forward through an AAP. That was agreed by the councils, either via the formal decision-making process or signed off by Leaders. In Southwark, the council prepared an AAP for one of the most deprived estates in London. This was part of a bigger, corporate project for the Aylesbury Estate, which was in need of some major work. In preparing the AAP, they set up a client team. The chair was director of the project, and they had housing, planning, property, and New Deal for Communities (NDC) representatives. The team met every couple of weeks. There was an Aylesbury Regeneration Board, comprising the head of regeneration, as well as colleagues from housing, planning, and property. All of these were internal. Planning was one of the things regularly on the agenda, but so was housing management and other issues. Below this, there was a separate project manager for the AAP. This project manager was linked to the planning team to check everything was being produced to time. The group widened out as appropriate to check on different workstreams. The appointed consultants also had a project manager, and they met regularly as well to go through the programme. As a council priority, it was well funded, but this kind of team approach is only set up for the bigger priorities. Working with someone who had the job of implementing the plan was also useful. It is crucial to have that link in order to bounce ideas off them about viability and other aspects not traditionally dealt with in planning. This enabled officers and partners to have some of the more difficult conversations early. It can be seen that it is really useful to set out what the key priorities that the plan will deliver are at the outset. This then leads to a need to formulate a group of key people from both within and outside the authority. Work can then be shared across the group, rather than falling on the council to carry out.

3.1.2 Councillor buy-in

Although it is important to have political buy-in and, ideally, membership on the working group, there are other ways the councils have found useful in ensuring councillor buy-in. The importance of sharing evidence In South Hams, councillors were faced with a huge housing proposal a 7,000-home new settlement called Sherford, to be delivered through an AAP. This scale of development had not been seen in the district before. Richard Grant, Spatial Planning Co-ordinator at Plymouth, and Lee Bray, Head of Strategic Planning and Economy at South Hams, feel that to work most effectively with councillors you need to give them information to share with people and work with them on evidence (in South Hams,

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councillors commissioned the housing need survey). Lee Bray says: You dont win buy-in, you have to let councillors come to their own conclusions. In the end, having a strong vision adopted under one administration may have even meant the new administration made some decisions against their own ethos, such as Sherford. But this shows the importance of sharing the information and letting councillors make their own decisions. Once the AAP was adopted, councillors saw the need and were happy to go along with it. They have taken some brave decisions to support the growth agenda. Their support has been crucial to guiding the officers through. Councillors werent persuaded by officers, but by the information. Getting councillors actively involved In Hull, they found that a more proactive use of councillors has been the key to getting support. Planning got local councillors involved throughout the process, both formally through committees and informally through regular small briefings, giving them updates on the plan process and consultations. The key partner to the council, the Gateway, has programme managers who deliver the policies set out, and they do a lot of work with the councillors, getting them fully involved and treating them on an equal footing. The councillors are happy to be getting professional advice, but also know the area, so they did their own consultation in one of the areas too, in order to get the ideas for themselves. Portfolio holders sit on the delivery boards and regeneration partnerships (which are locally led). There are also neighbourhood regeneration offices. Having the regeneration team located in the area helps, and councillors were also publicising this. It is a comfort to councillors to be able to tell residents they can go to the regeneration office in their local area. At events, councillors were always invited as an integral part, and were sometimes used to speak or facilitate. This provides a very clear and visible link between the councillors, the community and the work. A committee-led approach In South Cambridgeshire, they took all decisions at all stages of the plan to full council. The development plan was pretty much the only thing dealt with by the full council. As such, all DPD preparation saw the full council rolling its sleeves up. Keith Miles, Planning Policy Manager at South Cambridgeshire, took the view that as the council has to agree the plan in the end, he wanted to take them through at each stage. All stages of preparation were agreed at key consultation stages, and also they agreed changes as a result of feedback from consultation. This was a phenomenal amount of work for councillors as well as officers, but it meant the plan was their plan, and they had total

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ownership of it. The risk of speeding things up without fully involving councillors throughout wasnt worth taking. A delegated approach In some ways, the experience at Wakefield shows the potential benefits of an alternative approach to the one at South Cambridgeshire. In terms of councillor involvement, decisions about preparing DPDs are delegated to the Corporate Director for Regeneration and Economic Growth. This is done in consultation with a cross-party LDF sounding board consisting of eight councillors, currently chaired by the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Growth. This has allowed them to save time, as they dont have to go to council/committee at each stage. The arrangement also gets political buy-in inherently in the process. They can then go to council with the version to be published and submitted.

3.1.3 Working with partners

In Hull, the AAP was born out of two things firstly, a partnership relationship with the council, Gateway Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder and Keepmoat, Gateways lead developer in west Hull. Secondly, with no up-to-date adopted plan, the need for a policy framework for the housing area. There is a strong relationship between the councils Planning and Housing Service and Gateway. They also set up an internal working group, including highways and parks departments. The housing department was already talking to what is now the HCA all the time as an external delivery partner. As with most things, it is best not to apply a one size fits all approach. At Hull, they used different mechanisms, and applied a layered approach, in order to use the most appropriate means of getting out what they wanted. For the AAPs, the council would hold targeted events for stakeholders. These may well be more resource intensive, but are a good way of getting a single hit from key stakeholders. Internally, officers involve other teams who are working on related issues, such as the design team for a design guide. In Southwark, for the Aylesbury Estate AAP, the planners identified who the key partners were by looking at what infrastructure was there or needed to be provided, and making sure the relevant partners were involved early on. For example, there was a health centre on the site, which everyone wanted to see; although earmarked for demolition, the function needed to be retained. So the PCT were key to discussions about how to incorporate a new health centre into the AAP. Similarly, the council was also overseeing a major schools rebuilding programme, so planners and education colleagues worked together to make sure the AAP and the education strategy were seeking to achieve the same thing for the estate.

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At Wakefield, the council has developed a close working relationship with the Environment Agency, benefitting both organisations. Officers have worked successfully with them, as flood risk is a key issue in central Wakefield. The Environment Agency came to support the council in the Examination in Public (EiP). They had carried out two SFRAs, one at a broad level for the whole of the borough and one more detailed for central Wakefield. There is an informal agreement to regularly liaise with each other. They held several meetings to discuss key issues and entered into a lot of correspondence as well.

3.1.4 Working with developers

In South Cambridgeshire, and in Barnet, the councils worked openly with the developers up to the stage at which the council had to draw up the plan. At that stage, they withdrew the working with the developers, and ended up treating them as a representer. This shows that you can maximise the resources that the developer has without compromising the integrity of the council as ultimate decision-maker. At Kingston, the council developed an informal agreement with their chosen developer, and there is a co-operation agreement to work with them. In parallel with in-house analysis, they did work on the street scene, permeability and the morphology of the town centre. The developer also funded a transport study to look at the impact of increased retail. This approach shows that, particularly in a single area, it is helpful to have the developer on board at the outset, as a partner, as they can also help to deliver some of the evidence. However, it is important to keep the paper walls in place. Developer evidence can be useful, but developers need to understand they have no guarantee of getting the site into the plan. Applications can help illustrate what the plan may mean in practice. The relationship with developers has changed in the new system. There is more joint working, but also a need to set what the limits are in each case.

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4. Evidence gathering
This section looks at some different approaches to determining the level and scope of evidence to be used in making a plan. It also looks at some different approaches to working with others to gather evidence. In times of scarce resources, there are decisions to make about what to do in house, as well as how to procure consultants to ensure you get the most out of them. The LDF system has freed up what you call evidence, and how you can get it (for example, through consultation and engagement, not just through studies and surveys). This is important in the context of moving from statutory consultation through to a more continuous engagement approach. Some of the authorities carried out the work on their DPDs prior to the core strategy. This seems to have had an effect on the amount and type of evidence gathered in some circumstances. Some clear learning points in this section are: write a clear brief if you are working with consultants Also, determine what can be done in house before going to procurement prioritise evidence and concentrate on delivery rather than strategy think about impact and a proportionate approach take a pragmatic approach to ensure proportionality cover what you need to support the document, the strategy and the delivery.

4.1.1 Writing a clear brief

Newcastle worked with their housing market renewal pathfinder, Bridging Newcastle Gateshead, who in turn funded consultants to drive the work on the AAP. The council spent a lot of time on the brief for selecting consultants, in order to ensure due process. It was essential to get corporate buy-in so that everyone understood it. They therefore established a Benwell Scotswood Project Board, with councillors, key funders, residents, voluntary and business sectors all represented. The brief was developed with the community and key agencies through the Benwell Scotswood Project Board. There was also a workshop with a critical friend to ensure the brief had clarity of purpose. The remit of board was to manage the whole regeneration programme. It was not therefore set up just to look at the AAP or procurement. The brief was very clear about

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frontloading the process, and they had a specific public relations and marketing team to deal with that. The council took an innovative approach to the selection of consultants, asking for a consortium to come forward to work on different streams: the spatial plan, marketing and communications, business planning and project management. The consultants agreed to gather evidence, do consultation, carry out the preferred options report, and then Newcastle City Council took over. The council did the consultation on preferred options and then took the AAP forward to publication. Consultants were retained as a critical friend in the latter stages. Officers then wrote the submission draft, and took everything to the board at every stage. As part of the review of information that came back, they realised that they had to redo or make more robust evidence. This was already part of the brief to consultants, to review evidence at that time, carry out a gap analysis and so on. Having a well-written brief therefore really helped at this stage, as it was not additional work to be procured or costed.

4.1.2 Prioritising evidence

In Plymouth and South Hams, the sub-regional aspect was important. Consultants looked at what makes it work and how growth can help it and the surrounding areas. This determined what needed to be looked at. If the council didnt have the answer to the questions, they needed to get the evidence. Richard Grant says: Source what you can from where you can find it. You need to prioritise to make the most of your resource. Spend money on work where you know you will deliver something. It is important to concentrate on delivery rather than just having a strategy. South Hams did do some of the larger studies, such as a strategic flood risk assessment, and an employment review. They have not done any retail work, as the issue is not significant for South Hams. Lee Bray is quick to point out that this is all work that would have been done anyway, they just brought it in to inform the strategy. He adds: We did not have much resource to throw at it, so we have to cut our cloth accordingly. You really need officers who know their stuff. You need to be happy they can tell the story.

4.1.3 Taking a proportionate approach

In Southwark, the AAP covers a very distinct area, which means it is less easy in some ways to share evidence with other departments or for other purposes. It is important to think about the issue of proportionality, particularly for the AAP. The evidence was therefore much more focussed and site specific. The council looked at what policies

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needed what evidence, and also what impacts they would have, to determine the scale of evidence. They decided they didnt need to do the number of studies and type that were needed for the core strategy, regardless of the fact the core strategy was yet to be in place. For example, the employment review, carried out for the core strategy, was not needed for the AAP. In terms of employment, there was more of a look into skills and training. The retail study on the estate was much more limited in scope. This shows that there is a definite proportionality to evidence gathering to suit the document and area covered. However, the housing supply and demand model that was developed for calculating affordable housing has since formed part of the core strategy evidence. There is also a need to re-house people whilst the estate is being redeveloped, so the model is being used to look at other areas. Officers put into the pipeline every scheme they knew about, including the scale and proportion of affordable housing that they could support. The planning officers worked with housing colleagues to reconcile records. Housing colleagues were able to share what they knew about registered social landlord (RSL) work in the pipeline and the planners added this to their records. This work fed into the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), so there was a mapping exercise in working out capacity, phasing timetables and contacting landowners to see what their aspirations were. At Wakefield, the development policies document needed very little evidence. It is more about demonstrating that policies are consistent with the core strategy, and the core strategy with regional and national policies. This was done by way of simple tables, including links to how policies meet up the chain and down to sustainability appraisal objectives and guiding principles. The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) found this helpful. One of the differences Neville Ford has found between the development policies DPD and an area action plan the council has adopted was the scale of evidence needed. However, they still adopted a proportionate approach, looking only at where evidence from the core strategy needed to be supplemented.

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The council did a separate sustainability appraisal for the area action plan. This was distinct from the core strategy work, but informed by it. They modified the sustainability appraisal objectives that were set out for the core strategy but made use of quite a lot of the data that sat behind the objectives. Sustainability appraisal work on the development policies DPD was also combined as the core strategy and development policies were done together. This definitely saved in terms of efficiency and resources.

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5. Community engagement
This section looks at community engagement and how different approaches can be drawn out depending on which stage the document is at. This section is also a useful starting point when thinking about neighbourhood plans in the future. Although the AAP is a plan defined by and set out by the council rather than the community, the influence of the right kind of engagement is clear. These examples illustrate good practice that will be relevant in helping the community develop neighbourhood plans. Key points here are: Whats the starting point what do you know about the community already? Remember there are more than just residents. Have a flexible approach for different audiences and stages. Use consultation events and exercises already planned by others. Make the most of existing networks, which the community already understand. Think about rural and urban areas differently.

5.1.1 Starting off

In thinking about who to engage with and how, it is important to set out what you already know of the area, and share that with the community. This also extends to knowing who your developers and key landowners are. A call for sites may not always be necessary for an AAP, but knowing who is out there is important. The way the engagement was approached in Plymouth and South Hams was to start with the question: What answers do we need straight away to develop the way forward? Richard Grant says: You need to look at what the authority needs to do and shape your approach to that. The catalyst neednt be growth, of course. It is whatever the vision for the area is. Plymouth started by splitting the city into communities. They then kicked off the process by asking Is what we know about your community correct?, What can be improved? and What do you know that we dont? They also did a series of walkabouts with local councillors, and held a workshop with invited local people. This was set up to explain what spatial planning and sustainability are, and what can be altered in the area. When dealing with a town centre, it is important to remember that there will be a number of people who are users of the centre who do not live there and so would not be reached by more standard methods of consultation. So in order to get to know the community in

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this sense, Kingston kicked off with a big open day inviting the local community, interest groups and statutory organisations. The council held the event on a Saturday morning in one of the recently opened clubs in the centre. They set up walking tours and asked people to record what they liked and didnt like with cameras and on Post-its. The participants then came back and reported what they found, and what their aspirations were. In a similar vain, at South Cambridgeshire, there was an issue over how to engage on a new settlement where the people who will be living there are not necessarily in the area at present. With no existing community to consult, they took some of the lessons from Cambourne, a now-established new settlement in South Cambridgeshire. Here, the greatest response came from neighbouring communities. The council was keen to work with these communities in order to show there would be benefits to having the new settlement, as well as being able to demonstrate how the existing communities could be protected and enhanced. The council ran workshops, exhibitions and meetings to explain proposals and give locals an opportunity to help shape them.

5.1.2 The wider community

It is important to remember that there are people with key interests in the area for the plan who are not residents. In particular, the business community can be hugely influential, and having them on board early on is crucial. They may not be accessed in the same way as the residents, as they would be less likely to be able to visit events and exhibitions, and may not live in the area to receive literature. In Hull, the council originally considered extending the boundary to include a local business estate adjacent to the south. Despite not including this in the final plan area, they still got comments from the business community. Nicolas Harne carried out these as face-to-face interviews rather than a standard business survey. Every stakeholder and resident received on a regular basis the Standard newsletter, updating them on the AAP process, such as upcoming consultation events and regeneration works taking place. The council tried to go further with those in the local retail area. This approach reignited interest in a traders group as a result. The council even used one business owner who ran a bike shop to become the partner in their cycle-to-work scheme. Newcastle carried out telephone surveys of developers. Using marketing people who had experience of dealing with a product meant they came from a totally different and useful angle. Seeing the AAP as a product really helped. They also carried out face-toface interviews (with a council-agreed set of questions). This meant that the engagement was perhaps more meaningful to this audience owing to the way the AAP was explained to them, without planning jargon.

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5.1.3 Flexibility in approach

In Hull, the council and Gateway took a flexible approach to consultation, so there was a different nature to the events at each of the formal stages. Issues and options stage was more fun and informal. This included events in each of the five primary schools in the area. The events were set up so that parents could come in at closing time and see what was going on. There were activities for children to be involved as well. This made it easier for parents to stay knowing children wouldnt be bored. There was a touch screen TV with cool or not cool questions, particularly around design issues. The council and Gateway were then able to have a flavour of what residents views were in that respect and accommodate those views into design policies. At preferred options stage, they tailored the work. Between issues and options and preferred options, they invited people to be more involved should they want to be. They moved from the concept plan to a more finalised plan, using the focus group to test options before they got to preferred options. They used simple language such as minimum, medium, maximum in terms of impact, which led to preferred. Every area is broken down into neighbourhoods. These are manageable chunks on peoples doorsteps, which locals can relate to. Strong community input led to further mini-rounds of consultation on specific areas. Nicolas Harne believed it was very important to allow this flexibility to get the fine-tuning, to allow for very local areas to be focused on and specifically engaged when needed. He added that there does obviously need to be deliverability attached, and any options put forward by residents did need that element worked on. As well as traditional methods of consultation, Southwark held more focused sessions on the estate. The existing neighbourhood group was used in these events, even to the extent of having some residents to staff the exhibitions. Also to reach the wider area, they had mail outs and had a database. They included main cross-borough groups like cyclists groups and faith forums. On the estate, they held special sessions for different groups, such as Bangladeshi women and Vietnamese groups, with interpreters. There was also a dedicated disabled group session. As it was a council estate, they had good knowledge of the demographics. The New Deal For Communities team and existing tenant groups had good links back into the community as well. The council was pretty successful in reaching a high proportion of tenants on the estate. Right at the beginning, they built a show home and it ran over three weeks. Each week they changed the layout to show what could be done. This got about 2,000 people through the door. The council also held fun days and events for children, so that parents could look around whilst their children are occupied. Officers also found that the children could be very positive and get parents involved as well.

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Newcastle also took a flexible approach to feeding back information to the community. Engagement is a two-way process and following on from events, the council was keen to feed back in the most meaningful way possible. There was a workshop at St James Park, and they employed a film crew to capture the event. Very shortly afterwards, a feedback report was sent out to keep the interest alive. They also sent out a newsletter to everyone. There was a series of events held under the banner 1 Big Week. For this, they took a consultation vehicle around the area. The idea was clearly to go to the people, not have the people have to come to you. To some degree, and owing to a lot of previous council work in the area, there had already been death by consultation. However, this wasnt wasted by the council, who reflected this back. They were able to keep showing the thread by saying: You said this, we did this now what should we do more of/do differently? The earlier consultation had been carried out for a different purpose, but was asking the sort of questions the AAP issues and options consultation would have been asking. Despite not setting out a formal issues and options consultation, the Inspector was satisfied that the due process had been followed. This shows the advantages of linking work in with what other departments (particularly regeneration) may already have done, or be doing, in an area. In addition, the council prepared a parameters report, which was basically consulting on the baseline. It set out what the evidence showed, what previous consultation said. This went to the statutory agencies. They didnt do an issues and options report because there had been regeneration plans since the 1970s, and other more recent initiatives in the area. Therefore all issues and options had been carried out under these existing schemes. The council was happy to be able to show a clear audit trail, and the Inspector supported this. The council wanted to make it a bit easier to read, so they produced a summary document in plain English. A questionnaire went out with that, and that is what they consulted on. The council wanted qualitative and quantitative responses, so the questionnaire set a few key issues out. It asked certain questions covering topics such as What types of houses are needed to help regenerate the area?, rather than asking Is affordable housing needed? However, for all the statutory consultees, they did send out the full AAP. This approach shows flexibility and dealing with different stakeholders in a proportionate and appropriate way.

5.1.4 Working with partners

At Hull, the council was very fortunate, in that the Gateway had a dedicated professional communications team, who made sure that the residents were actively brought on board. They could then draw much more effectively on resources. The council and
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Gateway resolved to still have standalone events of their own, but also to use others, already organised, and support ones that may not otherwise have happened. This presented them with much wider opportunities for engaging the communities. Gateway and the council organised a lot of events. The brand was made clear, and as well as music, sports and arts events, they made it clear that there was a conversation to be had about the area. Working with the partners is more about the overall area than the land use only approach. This style of engagement reflects this very strongly. There were concerns about the communities being over consulted. Pathfinder developed NewAnd as the brand, which was created by combining the names Newington and St Andrews, the two wards being consulted. The two wards had always been viewed separately by the council, but are now looked at as a whole. This prevented the council from carrying out the same consultation at different times in adjoining neighbourhoods, or duplicating consultation. This branding also stretched to how the AAP was viewed and sold to the community. The council did little to sell it as an action plan, but more as a neighbourhood regeneration plan, making it more relevant and realistic. It also ensured that the document related to a place people could recognise. In Plymouth and South Hams there was a huge depth of evidence around Sherford, and the councils worked very collaboratively. The Princes Foundation became involved, and for a district like South Hams, the cache that comes with that may have given the work the right ring, but the inquiry by design work really shifted the focus. From 7,000 objections to Sherford in the early work on revising the local plan, there were then only 300 representations on the Sherford AAP, some of which were in support. This helps illustrate the value of getting out and engaging and helping the community to understand the process. In Plymouth, the council even set up workshops to help people make representations. This was a key part of ensuring the plan is the citys plan.

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Plymouth also has a dedicated community engagement co-ordinator who isnt a planner. This has proved really useful in getting the engagement with different communities. She has led on all the engagement work. With a more easily defined community, such as the existing estate in Southwark, the council was able to use the neighbourhood team. They were able to take the residents through the decision-making process as the council saw it. One effective exercise involved playing a game looking at the relationship between density, value and design. They put a grid over the estate, covered in tiles. Residents were then tasked with reducing the funding deficit by reducing densities and improving the relationship with surrounding areas. This led to residents quickly realising that as higher land values could be generated in areas overlooking the park, they set out higher densities in those areas. Sometimes there is a readily available and independent resource that can be accessed locally to help bring in a different approach. In Newcastle, the council had Planning Aid come in on consultation on preferred options, in particular with schools and faith groups. The officer involved was excellent. He devised a regeneration play, performed by the children, and lots of people came. While they were there, the council could talk to residents in a more jovial, relaxed way. They also went to more diverse groups events. The idea was very much not to make events where people had to come to, but to go to existing events.

5.1.5 Making the most of existing networks

In Redbridge, the work on two of their three adopted AAPs, along the Crossrail corridor and at Gants Hill, had a high degree of early engagement and use of existing organised groups. Along the Crossrail corridor, there had been history with previous action plans in the area, which had brought out key local people and a lot of angst in the area committees. In Seven Kings, the area committee had started a non-statutory plan. This was a softer plan dealing with public realm issues, but not addressing core issues, such as urban decline and the general degradation of the street scene. The council used this in their discussions to start with the smaller issues and start to filter in the bigger things. The community were a little wary of the AAP as there had been previous incarnations, which were softer and dealt with the smaller issues. This plan was sold as more of a large delivery plan dealing with common issues and able to combine them, such as the

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absence of a swimming pool and library. Officers were able to show to the public how the AAP can join up the issues, set a framework and manage the provision, so you can start to deal with that provision. Community forums in the area are set up on a more informal basis, but the council invited service providers along to meetings. This allowed them to say how their plans fit in. It also opened up the community to talk about other issues like housing, which wasnt always high up on the agenda. These community forums were set up after the issues and options stage, and used as the way of doing continuous informal consultation rather than a preferred option report approach. Each event was a mix of presentation and discussion. Ward councillors were also invited to the community forums. Councillors carried out Saturday morning walkabouts of the area. Five or six key people were involved, and this core group organised a community festival, and other events, to help showcase the plan and get more local buy-in. The council also tapped into local groups such as Take Action for Seven Kings. These contained more vocal people, but they organise events in their local area. They have local leaders, religious leaders and a new business partnership with members of the business community on the forum. Ward councillors also walked up the high road and put posters in windows. In this way, you can maximise impact with minimal effort. Use existing meetings without having to devote your own staff time and resources. Some of these key people, such as the religious leaders, received council information directly and then put it on their own websites. In this way, one single message goes to a larger number of people.

5.1.6 Thinking about urban and rural areas differently

In Plymouth and South Hams, although the area action plan dealing with the new settlement at Sherford was a joint plan, the council areas are geographically diverse, and so differing approaches were required. South Hams has the same pattern of communities, although rural. There was huge engagement. Officers noted an almost inverse proportion, with the smaller the village, the larger the interest, particularly in change. This, Lee Bray feels is the biggest difference between a city and rural area. South Hams abuts a district, two unitary authorities, the county council, and has part of a national park within it. It has over 60 local town and parish councils to engage with. This leads to complex engagement. So the council decided to deal with the higher tier authorities first and partner with them. Parish work, under the current leader in particular, tried to allow them to be the basic

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building block of community engagement. About a third have risen to that, a third didnt quite get it, a third didnt want to. So instead of trying to go to 60 individual parishes, the council clustered them around the market towns. There has been a variance in engagement, and willingness. Both authorities took a very flexible approach. They couldnt just go down the public meeting approach. Workshops are where people discuss and express their own views most clearly. In this setting, it is far easier to get people to explain what they want.

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6. Monitoring and flexibility

This section looks at approaches to monitoring and bringing in flexibility to the plan policies. It is clear that there is an appetite to try to provide fewer, more qualitative indicators, but there has been a struggle between that aim and meeting existing monitoring requirements set out in the core strategy. The key lessons are: think about keeping the monitoring simple and specific link indicators to existing ones where possible rather than making more think about how the work relates to other areas such as infrastructure delivery think about monitoring qualitatively and looking at outcomes rather than outputs.

At Barnet, there are monitoring indicators in each AAP. These will be added into the AMR for this year. There is indicative phasing in the Colindale AAP, and set key infrastructure phases, but these depend somewhat on development. More work on this is coming through the infrastructure delivery plan and how that will be updated. They are continuing to meet with the stakeholder group and will do so for the life of the AAP. The larger sites are yet to have applications on them. If there isnt the level of development originally anticipated, then there are some contingencies. Mill Hill East (MHE) had developers involved, so there were no surprises for them. Setting quanta of affordable housing is now different from when the AAP came in. The MHE AAP has some built-in flexibility in its policies in that it has ranges rather than set levels of provision. This was important as it was recognised that the site would come forward in a piecemeal fashion rather than as one site, and therefore what may be achievable in one area may not be appropriate in another. Planning obligations are covered at the end in a flexible way, setting out more of a shopping list approach to what may be contributed towards. In Colindale the developer work included some high-level testing of affordable housing and code for sustainable homes numbers. They asked the question: How would the market be hit by insistence on certain levels of affordable housing and a certain code (4)? The basic response was that S106 only delivers so much, and there would be a squeeze on affordable housing or code level. The levels were set in line with the London Plan but everything will be viability tested. The council will look at the priority for each of the parcels of land, and say these are the things that must be delivered, with flexibility on other targets.

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At Kingston, they have looked at what is working corporately and applied it to the monitoring of the AAP. All the proposed monitoring of policies and proposals are contained in tables at the back. The AMR also has monitoring of the AAP in there. The council has now developed an annual implementation plan, which is what they do for most council plans. This will start from early 2011, and is more of a business plan in terms of monitoring. It will be a new concept corporately to treat the AAP (a planning document) in this way. Normally only corporate delivery plans are subject to this type of implementation plan. It is a sign that the AAP is seen corporately as a delivery plan, rather than a land-use plan. Richard Grant at Plymouth feels that it is not important to look at individual policies, but results on the ground. Ask: Is what you set out to happen being delivered? You need to work to help make the right things happen. Work with the sector and communities to make the plans work. Theres so much more than the quantum of development. Officers recognise the need to talk about impacts. What has gone in, not how much? What has that done to GDP? This is the way you will end up seeing the plan leading to change on the ground. At South Cambridgeshire, Northstowe is now designated as a second phase eco-town. Although the new settlement at Northstowe has yet to be begun, a gap analysis has been done to see what is needed to lift the AAP from the existing position to one that will meet the eco-town standards. The key driver will be those eco standards, and its likely to lead to a lower-density development, so some related issues will be re-opened. This is a more proactive use of monitoring, referring back to key principles and seeing how those will impact on development of different levels and to different standards.

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Planning Advisory Service Local Government Improvement and Development Layden House 76-86 Turnmill Street London EC1M 5LG Telephone 020 7664 3000 Email pas@local.gov.uk www.pas.gov.uk The Planning Advisory Service provides consultancy and peer support, learning events and online resources to improve local government planning. Sign up for email updates online at www.pas.gov.uk/register PAS is a Local Government Improvement and Development programme and part of the Local Government Group. We are funded directly by the Department of Communities and Local Government. Cover image: Ilford High Road, with kind permission of the London Borough of Redbridge

Local Government Group, August 2010 For a copy in Braille, Welsh, larger print or audio, please contact iHelp on 020 7664 3000. We consider requests on an individual basis