Whilst these words seem to mean different things to different people and groups, a culture shift from consultation to dialogue is the current coin in the definition of best practice for the development of new Neighbourhood Plans.

But it is noteworthy that current Planning system adheres to the terminological use of Consultation and in no dictionary will one find the definition of that word to mean solely a process of “objection, which by their nature focus on negative points”.

For the future should a civic society want to have a particular shop or to have specific conditions apply, it would be advantageous do so through the inclusion of such needs in a neighbourhood plan.

However before we reach that stage, micro considerations can be negotiated through consultation and the reaching of agreement and securing of commitments from developers and new businesses and perhaps most importantly of all, the local planning authority.

London Assembly documents articulate that “it’s not possible to define units down to that detail in local authority policies.” The document went on to say, “…that in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, a Tesco was only allowed in the High Street if it included an existing post office…”.

Securing that category of commitment by means of consultation and dialogue seems much more attractive and productive than adopting a singular and ultimately negative mode whereby only statements of rejection are made to the planners.

Although the Society is listed as a Consultee, their report does not appear on the list of documents on Lewisham’s Planning Portal.

So why can’t we do a Hammersmith and Fulham ?

Let us deploy our consultation and dialogue skills and negotiate commitments from the applicant and the authority to secure the delivery of these mitigation proposals.

This post was last modified: 18-07-2012 11:01 PM by jgdoherty.