By the Save Waterloo Dock Team
05 November, 2019
WHERE IS THE ENGAGEMENT ? 'Early and meaningful engagement and collaboration with neighbourhoods, local organisations and businesses is essential. A wide section of the community should be proactively engaged…’ SCI 2013
Save Waterloo Dock (SWD) is adamant that our local community has not been afforded sufficient opportunity for consultation. It demonstrates scant regard for current guidelines included in National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF); the Localism Act 2011; the Statement of Community Involvement 2013; the Liverpool Unitary Development Plan and Local Plan 2018. The message - Early Engagement is KEY.
In a chronological sense Liverpool City Council’s (LCC) first recorded meeting with the developers was in July 2018. The consultation process with Historic England, began 17th July 2018 .
The first community consultation began on the 31st October 2018. This included an advert in the ECHO and a notification on the website of an organisation called ENGAGE. 300 leaflets were delivered in an area identified on a map provided by the developers (local to site) to inform the local community of a consultation opportunity hosted by ARUP on 7th November 2018. There was a 15% probability of receiving one of the 300 leaflets or alternatively, if you like, a 85% chance of not getting one.
This was 36 days before a more comprehensive notification was delivered to our homes.
Arup claim 90 people attended, so let’s analyse that first. Given there are approximately 2000 postal addresses in the mapped area and a conservative estimate of 4000 interested stakeholders we can establish 90 people represent around 3% of local stakeholders at best We would of course, need post codes to exact that percentage of the local community. Arup claim 98% of attendees approved the development.
ARUP (peel holdings agent) claim 67 people out of the 90 who attended left comment, ARUP have included these 98% supportive comments on their planning application 18F/3247.
The many objections from the local community are not on planning application 18F/3247. We believe we have been excluded.
SWD raised concern with Head of Planning, Samantha Campbell, who directed us to Ian Ford (ARUP). We requested from Ian details of attendees at the consultation event. SWD specifically asked for analysis of the 67 people who left comment. SWD identified the residential dwellings directly affected by the planning application and asked, (without breaking any data protection laws), how many of the 67 people registered were from an address/postcode in those dwellings. This information would underpin ARUPS consultation and support the policy commitment of community involvement and early engagement.
ARUP declined to provide SWD with this evidence. SWD is totally adamant that the consultation process has failed the local community.
