North Tyneside Council receives detailed feedback on master plan

Context

North Tyneside Council used the PlaceChangers platform to deliver an interactive consultation for a major regeneration effort during the recent Covid-19 lockdowns. The master plan ‘Ambitions for North Shields and the Fish Quay’ is a key part of the Council’s effort to regenerate the area between North Shields and the Fish Quay with the aim to transform the town centre and riverside into an environment where people choose to live, work and spend their leisure time.

The draft master plan recognises the unique challenges and opportunities facing North Shields and aligns to the key priorities and objectives as set out by the Elected Mayor and her Cabinet. Proposals represented a major investment in public spaces in North Shields that improve quality of live, connectivity, and the vitality of the neighbourhood.

What was done

North Tyneside Council needed an easy-to-use interactive consultation that could communicate the key aspects for each of the eight projects proposals easily and clearly.

PlaceChangers supported council officers with the setup of an interactive consultation on the PlaceChangers platform. The master plan contained eight major project proposals and a total of 62 individual interventions for members of the public to explore and leave feedback on. Given the large number of projects and their distribution across the master plan area, PlaceChangers provided a guided tour within the app, with which participants could quickly move between different project proposals.

The interactive consultation was accessed through a dedicated page on the council’s website, which provided additional background information for participants. The consultation was advertised widely via North Tyneside Council’s social media channels, as well as news releases in local papers.

The online consultation was available for a 4 week time period running alongside to a paper-based survey.

What outcomes did the client achieve?

In total, 92 participants left 715 responses on 79 proposals included in the master plan. Respondents left detailed feedback on every single location. An interactive consultation report allowed the council to explore feedback by sentiment, such as whether a response was generally positive or requested further improvements to the proposed interventions.

The master plan was well received by respondents. North Tyneside Council appreciated the rate of comments received within a relatively short window of time. They were pleased how accessible the consultation was to all ages.

As participants were asked to leave detail on age, gender, and role in the area, it made it easy for the council to analyse the diversity of response. The additional detailed comments on each individual proposal enabled the planning team to adapt proposals based on public feedback.

We used the PlaceChangers platform as an easy and accessible way to communicate a complex plan. Compared to our traditional approach, we captured more detailed and focused responses on every aspect of the plan which allowed the team to scrutinise in more depth what people were thinking, and why, and allow us to modify the plan accordingly. Nicholas Bryan (Highway Network Manager), North Tyneside Council