Survey on new planning policy should be kept simple to engage more than just 'drum bangers'

Public consultation on Peterborough’s new planning policies should be kept simple so it attracts engagement from more than just “drum bangers”, a councillor has said.

Cllr Peter Hiller (Peterborough First, Glinton and Castor) suggested that questions in the forthcoming survey should be grouped into broad categories so that “Mrs Miggins” – i.e. the average person – can understand and answer them at a planning meeting this week.

A draft of the survey, which will help Peterborough City Council (PCC) determine the policies that will shape future developments in the city in its new Local Plan (LP), is made up of some 45 questions, with some of them general but some more technical.

PCC planning policy manager Gemma Wildman responded that the council is currently working with a graphic designer to make the survey as user-friendly as possible and that having the questions grouped under headings is one option.

Online, you will “have to click to get more questions so it’s not all on one big sheet that looks scary and complicated to fill in”, she said, adding that residents will be assured that they don’t have to answer every question.

Peterborough has an LP, adopted in 2019, but began reviewing it in January this year, partly as a response to the lack of land left in the current document designated for industrial uses.

The new version will take around three years to complete, with the first round of consultation being one of three during that time.

This round will contain questions about the more general principles of planning – such as building heights and the number of new houses needed – while future rounds will include questions about specific sites.

The council currently has a call-out running for suggestions of suitable development sites, whether that be for housing, industrial parks, shops, leisure facilities, Gypsy and Traveller sites or cemeteries, aimed at local agents, developers, landowners and residents in general.

At the planning meeting, Cllr Amjad Iqbal (Labour, Central) also asked how the council would ensure there was a good level of engagement with the first round of consultation.

“I’ve been a councillor since 2016 and what I’ve experienced is that if we have a statutory requirement [to carry out consultation], we put something online and expect people to respond back to it and the response we get back is very limited,” he said.

“I have a serious concern with engagement. I would strongly recommend that we hold workshops, get councillors involved in their wards and ask people to come and ask people their opinions.”

Ms Wildman said that the council is not planning workshops currently, but will be sharing the questionnaire online and on social media when it’s finished as well as sending it to local libraries and parish councils.

Meetings may be appropriate for future rounds of consultation, she said.

Once complete, the questionnaire will be available to residents from July to September.