pr & marketing internal communication community engagement

CASE STUDYPeterborough Garden Park

Athene provides specialist community engagement for Peterborough Garden Park

25 Priestgate, Peterborough PE1 1JL tel: 01733 207340 email: mail@athene-communications.co.uk web: www.athene-communications.co.uk

A record-breaking proposal

Peterborough Garden Park is the UK’s premier garden and retail centre, with stunning architecture set in beautifully landscaped grounds. The Park has won a whole host of design, catering and community involvement awards, including a British Council of Shopping Centres Gold Award.

The owners of Peterborough Garden Park were looking to offer customers an even better shopping experience by extending the existing site to include a new foodstore and create 300 new jobs.

It pays to talk

Public consultation and the development of a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is a statutory part of any outline planning application but it’s not just about ticking boxes – it’s a terrific opportunity to connect with local people and make sure that planning proposals address the hopes and concerns of their community.

We worked closely with Peterborough Garden Park and the wider consultant team to put together a comprehensive programme of community engagement so people had a real chance to air their views and make a valuable

contribution to the final design. With this approach, we could secure people’s support for the proposals.

The timing and content of the consultation period were decided following a series of meetings with Peterborough City Council, parish councils, residents’ associations, ward councillors and the private sector. Although the initial period was set for three weeks, we responded to local feedback and extended it to nine weeks so we could capture the thoughts of as many community groups as possible.

The consultation period itself was heavily promoted to reach our extensive target audience. We organised media briefings with the Peterborough Evening Telegraph and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, produced a permanent on-site exhibition, a travelling exhibition, a dedicated microsite, advertising, posters and a leaflet drop to all 9,000 homes within a one-mile radius of Peterborough Garden Park.

Feeding back

We gave people the option of returning their consultation surveys by post using the included freepost envelopes, by visiting our permanent exhibition at the Garden Park, or

by filling it in online via the microsite. They could also get in touch through the dedicated email address and freephone number.

All responses were fed into our own specialist data management system, which was purpose built for securely capturing and analysing feedback during the consultation process. The feedback we received showed just how effective the consultation had been and helped shape how the proposed development could further benefit the community.

Ideas included a Skills Centre to train local people and a Leisure Cycle Hub to connect with Peterborough’s existing Millennium Green Wheel network. Feedback from the Disability Forum also helped to make access even more inclusive.

Getting results

The findings of the SCI showed overwhelming support for a new foodstore at Peterborough Garden Park. The overall approach and the willingness to take local views seriously have also been widely acknowledged by the community.

The consultation created a huge wave of support for the proposals by letter and

postcard, which actually broke previous planning department records. By reaching as many parts of the community as possible, we gave people a real opportunity to influence a very important development.

The outcome

Members of Peterborough City Council’s Planning and Environment Committee met on Tuesday 14th August to discuss the £15 million proposal. The application was granted to build a supermarket, training centre and cycling hub.

As well as a supermarket, the development will also bring a skills centre, which would include a workshop and arts and crafts area as well as a cycling facility and a children’s play barn.

The committee unanimously approved the project for outline planning permission and the site could be completed by December 2013.

We arranged for media coverage with Peterborough Telegraph, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Heart FM and Connect FM.We organised for a letter of thanks, to be sent to those that had provided a letter of support for the plans.

Peterborough Garden Park