Developers Must Do More To Prepare For New Communications Landscape Ushered In By The Localism Bill
House-builders and commercial developers across the UK are not doing enough to prepare themselves for the changes in the way they will have to communicate with local residents as a result of the forthcoming Localism Bill.
Those not ready for the changes, which are set to become law in November, could be at a significant disadvantage when seeking to gain planning permissions in 2012.
Many of the developers have begun to change their communications model and already conduct pre-application public consultations but the changes in the bill are so significant that the consequential changes needed in managing communications post the localism bill are equally significant.
That’s the view of Antony Poppleton, Head of PR at housing market experts, ThinkBDW who have launched a new service specifically to address the changes ushered in by the Localism Bill:
“ Lots has been written about the Localism Bill but there is little debate at the moment on the implications for communications within the property industry.
“The bill has yet to be finalised but it seems certain that in 2012 developers will face a totally new planning landscape of neighbourhood forums, community petitions and ultimately local referenda which will mean big changes in the way they will need to interact with local communities.
“Right now developers should be addressing how they monitor and manage their corporate reputations within any region in which they are seeking to build and they should be seeking to fully integrate their planning and corporate communications functions to meet the challenges of winning the local debate over development.
“They should be skilling up to ensure they can participate fully in the on-line and social media arenas, which will undoubtedly become the primary debating space for contentious planning applications, and they should be considering how they will address the machinations of a local referendum to approve their development.
“The Localism Bill will bring a sea change to the way the planning and corporate communications functions of developers must interact and to bring both those tankers into line by November, the turning must start as soon as possible.”
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