Our planning system needs a practical way of implementing the localism agenda, to find acceptable solutions to locally contested problems.
On behalf of emda, LUC and GHK Consulting designed a tool that offers a way for local people, local businesses, and other local organisations not only to provide their views, but also to engage and debate with each other in a meaningful way. Originally designed to help define the environmental limits to development and economic growth, the final version can be used to support a range of policy-making situations where the issues are contentious.
The tool is founded on the principle that there are four types of ‘capital’ that provide benefits and services to society — manufactured, natural, human and social. Any policy decision will have an impact on one or more of the above capitals. To help make decisions on contentious issues, we need to know two things:
(i) The ‘trade-offs’ between capitals arising from a policy decision (focusing on those trade-offs that cannot be easily avoided).
(ii) The point or ‘limit’ at which any further loss of a type of capital will simply not be acceptable.
The tool offers a structured, 3 step approach, resulting in a negotiated solution to establish what the ‘acceptable’ policy approach should be, and where, if anywhere, limits should be drawn. This will not always mean that everybody is happy with the final outcome. But what it will do is make the decision-making process transparent, and allow for all who have an interest to give their views and — crucially — hear the views of others, in order that a solution that is acceptable to most can be negotiated.
We do not pretend that the result will solve all problems, but it moves us on from the traditional approach to consultation that tends to magnify the differences in people’s views, rather than search for the common ground.
It was essential to be mindful of the tool’s purpose throughout this challenging project — to support local stakeholders in negotiating the often-contentious issues surrounding sustainable development — yet to avoid becoming hung up on theory and academics.
The full reports will be available online as part of the emda Knowledge Bank hosted by Nottingham Trent University.
