Local Plan evidence & community engagement
“The training was once again expertly and clearly delivered and in a friendly and sensitive manner. It was very well received by parish and town councils and has enabled them to continue to work with us on place and site issues, enhancing both their involvement in plan-making and our knowledge of locally important issues.
Place Studio are always a pleasure to work with and I have no hesitation in recommending them”
Richard Daone.
Deputy Head of Planning (Policy) Bath and North East Somerset Council
Working with Bath & North East Somerset Council, our team developed a community led sites assessment partnership between the 51 Parish and Town Councils and the Local Planning Authority as part of the site allocations process.
Working collaboratively, we devised a professionally rigorous, yet easy-to-use, site assessment methodology that has been delivered as part of three separate plan making processes: 2015, 2019, 2024. We estimate that this work has contributed to around 45% of housing delivery of the district.
In 2024, when we were again appointed to revise and refine the collaborative site assessment toolkit and to train the 15 parishes where the Council are exploring possible allocations.
From previous iterations of this evidence collection exercise for rural sites, we know that on average, parish/town councils and their volunteers spend around 120 hours on the work contributing to the local authorities resources on plan making.
B&NES officers have made clear that this work has improved their relationship with their Paris and Town Councils and reduced objections to proposed development allocations in the Local Plan.