Consulting with the public

Graham writes........Consultation is an important part of the process of delivering big projects. Handled well it can make a project better and speed its approval through the planning system. Handled badly it will make the smallest objection appear like a large scale protest.

Recognition has handled scores of consultations and most go very smoothly. The picture shows a consultation exhibition in Durham, which engaged with the public and resulted in minor changes to plans which enhanced the application.

I have some horror stories too. These are mostly from smaller developers attempting their first big schemes. They rush and involve the public late in the day in such a way that presents them with a binary choice – object or accept.

One developer wanted to build a large scale residential development on his farm. He wanted to apply for planning permission before the council’s summer recess and only realised at a date very near to the meeting that he hadn’t ticked the consultation box. He hurriedly arranged a public meeting at the farm, resulting in hundreds of people driving through the beautiful farmland he wanted to develop only to be given a talk by an architect who had never talked to a large crowd before. The result was a disaster. The people, who had never previously met, exchanged phone numbers and organised a protest group and the plans were subjected to a massive press campaign and refused!

Council meetings before recesses – Summer and Christmas – usually spark this sort of misguided consultation. It is unprofessional and counter-productive.

Recognition has a formula which ensures the public can have their say, the developer can make a case and any debate can be conducted in a rational way which avoids hot heads! Take our advice early and let the PR people be part of your team alongside architects and planning consultants.

Recognition's care operator's offering

Graham writes…..


I was very pleased to attend a conference for operators of care homes in Yorkshire at the end of September. Recognition has a new product to help this hard pressed sector deal with the increased media scrutiny it faces.

I was delighted that the regulator – the Care Quality Commission – also attended and heartened by the stance it is taking to root out poor practice and report its findings to the public.

The risk for good care home operators is they are tarred with the bad publicity that poor operators receive. Also, large groups of care homes are bound to have the odd ‘bad apple’ and exposure to immediate publicity can create the wrong impression of institutionally poor practice.

The answer is to have a methodology for answering legitimate media enquiries that will come about as the CQC starts to publicise its inspections. Too often care home operators duck and cover, instead of answering questions in an open and transparent way.

The scale of the media coverage is growing. Recognition handles PR for numerous care sector operators. As I write we look after operators which have in excess of 60,000 beds in more than 700 homes. On average 11.7% of the actual care homes in these groups receive some negative media coverage in a 12 month period, and this percentage will grow as a result of the CQC’s unofficial policy of publicising any bad report after one official warning is given.

The CQC cannot be faulted for the policy of using a combination of inspections, warnings and publicity to drive up standards. But a good home will also comment in the press reports, reassuring the public, its residents and their relatives that action plans are in place to deal with the issues. On re-inspection a good tactic is to return to the issue and persuade a local newspaper to report that the home is now operating normally and has been given a 'pat-on-the-back' by inspectors. The CQC is quite happen to help present a balanced picture.

Recognition has a special product o help care providers – it is simple to operate and cost effective.

Click here for full information.

http://www.recognitionpr.co.uk/crisis-management.asp