Engaging Communities on Strategic Sites: Beyond the Village Hall

Context

Richborough Estates undertook a comprehensive community consultation for an outline planning application at Croxley Green. Given the site's Green Belt designation and strategic location near London, the project required careful planning to balance development needs with sustainability and local concerns. The consultation process was designed to provide clear, accessible information about the masterplan and gather valuable community input to help shape the final proposals. The project team included RPS for planning, Pegasus for design, Cratus for communications, and a range of other specialisms required to fit the ambition and quality of the site design.

Consultation Approach

Richborough Estates utilised PlaceChangers to create a highly visual and interactive version of the masterplan, enabling residents to engage with the proposals in a more dynamic and accessible way. Through the online platform, users could explore key elements of the masterplan via a guided walk-through with visuals and themes, inviting them to provide qualitative feedback on all aspects of the development, relevant to urban design and spatial integration with nearby residential areas.

To maximise participation, a multi-channel outreach strategy was implemented by Cratus, the comms firm involved, including targeted digital engagement, direct postal invites to over 4000 nearby households. Given the nearby special needs school particular focus was placed on accessibility and ease of use both in the online setup and print materials prepared by Cratus. This approach ensured a broad spectrum of community members could access and interact with the consultation materials.

Feedback on PlaceChangers was automatically categorised into key themes, making it easier to assess and integrate community responses. This structured method allowed the team around Richborough Estates to identify priorities, concerns, and areas for refinement, ensuring that community input was meaningfully incorporated into the ongoing development process.

Key Outcomes

The consultation achieve all objectives by providing a highly engaging, and visual presentation that brought the masterplan to live.

• High Participation & Constructive Responses: Over 400 individuals engaged with the consultation, providing detailed, issue-specific feedback rather than general objections.
• Clearer Public Understanding: The interactive tools helped explain complex design relationships in easy ways, improving comprehension and reducing misconceptions.
• Efficient Reporting: AI-powered summaries streamlined data analysis, ensuring quick turnaround for strategic planning decisions. Richborough Estates was able to integrate community input into refinements of the masterplan, particularly around movement networks, green space provisions, and community facilities.

The Croxley Green consultation demonstrated the power of PlaceChangers in delivering structured, meaningful engagement at scale. By combining interactivity with robust data analysis, the project set a benchmark for how strategic sites can be consulted in a transparent and effective manner.