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Delegates seated in a row at a consultation event, listening and taking notes
Foundation e-Learning · EL-115 Planning & scoping

Consultation for Planning and Development.

An hour on consulting where the proposal is a place, and the objections arrive early.

Written for Consultation professionals working in planning
01 Why it matters

Consulting on a place

Planning and development consultation sits under its own pressures. The proposal is visible, the objectors are organised before you begin, and the media takes an interest.

Four modules work through it in sequence. The first sets the context and the legal requirement. The second builds the strategy. The third covers the tools you have to run it. The fourth deals with the two problems this field brings with it: hostile media, and an audience that does not turn up.

Produced by the Consultation Institute, with subtitles throughout. For the legal ground underneath any consultation, Law of Consultation covers the Gunning Principles in full.

02 What topics will you cover?

Six topics, four modules

Context and law come first, because they set the terms the strategy has to work within.

01
The context of consultation todayWhat has changed in public expectation, and what that does to a development proposal: communities that organise faster and expect to be asked earlier, objections that arrive already evidenced, and the difference that makes to how long a scheme takes to get through.
02
Legal requirementsWhether you are obliged to consult at all, and what follows once you are: statutory pre-application requirements, the Gunning principles, and the point at which a voluntary consultation creates the same expectations as a mandatory one.
03
Creating a strategyTurning the duty and the timetable into a plan you can defend later: the stages, who you speak to at each, what you commit to in a statement of community involvement, and the record you keep as you go so the process stands up to scrutiny.
04
Consultation toolsWhat is available to you, and which of it suits a proposal fixed to one location: exhibitions, site visits, design workshops, online material and mapped feedback, and how to choose between them when the affected population is defined by geography.
05
Media challenges and solutionsWhat to do when coverage runs ahead of the consultation: the local paper and the campaign group publishing before you do, the questions that arrive faster than the process can answer them, and how to hold a factual line without appearing to defend a decision not yet taken.
06
Reaching the right audienceGetting past the people who always respond to the ones who never do: identifying who is affected but silent, the barriers keeping them out, and the channels and formats that bring in a picture the loudest voices would otherwise set on their own.
What will you achieve? An understanding of…
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The external factors that influence how people respond to development

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How to create a consultation strategy for a planning proposal

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The tools available and when each of them is the right choice

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How to handle media interest and still reach the audience you need

03 Who is this course for?

Practitioners on the planning side.

This course is aimed at public consultation professionals, and specifically at those whose work involves planning.

04 How it works

Four modules, nine chapters. Each module closes with an assessment.

01
The context of consultation today

The longest module, at four chapters. Why consult and whether the law obliges you to, what shapes public reaction, and how competing priorities get balanced.

02
Strategy

Creating a strategy, across two chapters. Enough room to take it past the outline stage.

03
Running a consultation

One chapter on the tools themselves, and what each is good for.

04
Challenges and how to overcome them

Two chapters on the difficulties particular to this field: the media, and an audience that is hard to reach.

06Before you enrol

Common questions

Anything not covered here, ask us.

01

How long does it take?

Around an hour, across four modules and nine chapters. Self-paced, with subtitles, and it remembers where you stopped.
02

Is it only for planning work?

The examples and the pressures are drawn from planning and development. The strategy and tools sections carry over to other fields, but the reason to take this one rather than a general module is the sector.
03

Does it cover the legal duty to consult?

Yes, in module one, alongside the question of why you would consult even where no duty applies. It is an overview at foundation level. Law of Consultation treats the law itself at length.
04

What about hostile press coverage?

Module four takes it directly, in a chapter on media challenges and what can be done about them. It is paired with reaching the right audience, since the two problems tend to arrive together.
05

How do I pay?

You can pay by credit card when you book, or if you’d prefer to be invoiced, please just email us at contact@consultationinstitute.org
06

How many CPD points does it carry?

Five tCI CPD points, logged against your record when you finish, along with a certificate of completion.

Consulting on development, in an hour

£140 for a single licence, five CPD points, and a certificate at the end.

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