Forget Development Plan Amendments and minimum community engagement standards that often didn’t connect.
We are now in the world of Planning & Design Code Amendments and engagement tailored to the needs of the community and the nature of the issues at stake.
Nicole Halsey from URPS has just led a highly interactive PIA training session putting a spotlight on the Community Engagement Charter and what it means for planners preparing Code Amendments right now.
Questions Nicole and her PLANET participants grappled with over 3.5 hours included:
- How do we use the Community Engagement Charter to prepare a Code Amendment?
- How do we engage with members of the community who may have unfair or inaccurate preconceptions?
- How do we turn apathy into interest and meaningful contribution?
Key take-home messages from the session included:
- Getting much better at helping people to understand and be interested in planning policy.
- Using plain English to explain “what this means for you”.
- Greater use of visual tools and creative ways to reach people.
The success of engagement on Code Amendments will be measured in different ways – the number of people reached, the satisfaction of those engaged and the quality of discussion and feedback.
At URPS, our engagement team works closely with our policy team to deliver a wide range of Code Amendments across the State. We’d love to talk with you more about how to design and deliver community engagement that performs.