Consultation document 'a snub to the people of Chiswick'
A draft consultation document issued by Hounslow Council has come under fire from residents' groups who feel that it is a backward step for involving the community in the planning process.
The consultation, which runs from August 16 to September 26, gives residents a chance to put forward their comments current planning consultation practice and increase the involvement of local communities.
However, the draft statement and the consultation process is already coming under criticism. A spokesperson for the West Chiswick & Gunnersbury Society said, "The way this activity has been conducted suggests a psuedo-consultation exercise, simply to make the Council look good." Terry Thorn - Chair of the society - only became aware of the process when he read about it in the local Voluntary Times. When the Council was contacted and asked why the West Chiswick & Gunnersbury Society had not been informed about this consultation process, no reply was provided and a promise to send a copy of the draft statement by the middle of the month was not fulfilled.
The plan envisages increasing the role of HM Magazine, the Council's official publication, and describes the Hounslow Chronicle as the primary local media for planning publicity because of its 'borough-wide coverage'.
No mention whatsoever is made of community web sites. When questioned about the omission the Council response was that to involve sites like ChiswickW4.com and BrentfordTW8.com would discriminate against areas of the borough that did not have similar sites.
Close to 30,000 people visit ChiswickW4.com and BrentfordTW8.com the two sites that cover areas in the borough and over 7,000 people receive a weekly newsletter. The Council are unable to provide readership data for HM Magazine or the newspapers they currently use to publicise planning matters. It is almost certain that community web sites are the most popular local media in Brentford and Chiswick and possible that it is the most read source of news in the whole borough.
HM Magazine was originally intended to be fully funded by advertising but the Council was forced to provide extra funding to keep it going despite substantial cross-subsidy given by internal Council advertising. An increased revenue from planning related publicity would help reduce the deficit on the magazine.
Cllr John Chatt, executive member for positive regeneration, said: “The Council has always encouraged community involvement in planning. In the past, a good level of consultation has been achieved through providing opportunities to comment on planning applications, public meetings for major applications, or public inquiries. The purpose of this statement is to build on existing consultation processes and further engage Hounslow’s communities.”
A spokesman for Neighbour Net Ltd., the publishers of this site said, "It is hard to interpret this document as anything other than a snub to the people of Chiswick. To claim that your intention is to increase community involvement and then make no mention whatsoever of the role of the most popular media for the local area suggests the Council are not sincere in their stated aims. "
The Statement of Community Involvement contains a questionnaire, which provides residents with an opportunity to let the Council know how and at which stages they would like to be involved in the decisions and development of policy which affects their daily lives. Feedback will be provided to everyone who puts forward a view. There will be a further six-week consultation period on submission of this Statement of Community Involvement to the Government.
The emphasis of the draft statement on the use of HM Magazine goes against the conclusions of a report by Ove Arup commissioned by the Government into publicity for planning applications which concluded that the use of print media was an ineffective and expensive way to raise local awareness. The report highlights how effective the publication of planning information on-line has already been. Some more forward thinking council's such has Camden have already made efforts to switch a significant amount of planning publicity on-line thereby increasing responses and reducing costs.
A recent report by The Society of Information Technology Management has highlighted how heavy investment by local government in on-line applications has often been ineffective because of the lack of effort in encouraging residents to use the software. This is particularly evident in the field of planning were significant investment has been made in putting information on-line but very little in letting residents know it is there.
If you feel that it would be constructive for this site to be more involved in raising community awareness of planning issues and that its exclusion from the process would effectively be excluding you then responding to the questionnaire would be a good option. You can respond directly to the consultation through the e-mail address given above or the consultation document provides space for you to enter ways in which you think Hounslow Council could improve.
August 19, 2005
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The Draft Statement of Community Involvement Give your views on the Draft statement (PDF document) The document will also be available at local libraries Alternatively, you can send us views in writing to: Email: ldf@hounslow.gov.uk London Borough of Hounslow Change in planning rules herald big change in local media Community web sites debated in parliament Wide disparity in planning information on web Sign up for a free e-mail newsletter in your area |