Online 3D Community Consultation Drives Constructive Engagement for Affordable Housing

Context

The Gentoo Group, a North East housing association, is developing an affordable housing project at Chester Gate, Sunderland, as part of the city's broader transformation plan. The design team facilitating this project included Pegasus and Blake Hopkinson Architecture amongst others.

The project will deliver 296 affordable homes for Sunderland, addressing the critical need for affordable housing in the area. For Gentoo it was important to align with Sunderland City Council's "City Plan," which seeks to make Sunderland a dynamic, vibrant, and healthy place to live, and the team ensured strong collaboration with council officers.

Unlike typical sequencing for planning applications, Gentoo opted to run a online and in-person community consultation before paid-for pre-application advice service with the council. Based on feedback, Gentoo was able to provided the council with detailed information on sentiment towards designs and progressed design development during pre-application advice meetings, supporting Gentoo's planning application.

What was done

The PlaceChangers platform was central in managing the public consultation for the Chester Gate development. Using its interactive 3D consultation tool, PlaceChangers allowed community members and stakeholders to explore the proposed development in a dynamic, visual format.

Complementing the online consultation, Pegasus delivered an outreach programme, two in-person events, and reporting.

A vital feature of the consultation was the ability to step through the development site digitally, allowing stakeholders to visualise the project more effectively than traditional methods. The 3D proposal map showcased both 3D housing units and trees, indicating open spaces, with options for participants to switch between 2D and 3D views. Key features, such as access points and public open spaces, were highlighted, and feedback was collected through the platform, enabling the team to make real-time adjustments.

Through PlaceChangers, Gentoo was able to reach a broader audience. The online platform saw the most engagement, capturing valuable insights from community members, including changes to access routes and the design of green spaces. Strong attendance at public meetings, supported by the interactive consultation, also occurred.

PlaceChangers’ 3D tool also made it easy for participants to highlight specific areas and provide feedback directly on the map. Gentoo's team collected and reviewed this feedback, allowing for real-time adjustments to the design based on community input. For instance, participants raised concerns about access routes, leading to changes in the site layout to prevent the development from becoming a through road.

Outcomes

The consultation was successful, yielding a greater quantity and higher quality of feedback than traditional methods. Abby Cassady, Gentoo's development manager, contrasted this approach with previous consultations at Gentoo:

"The feedback we received was incredibly constructive, allowing us to make adjustments that better fit community needs. We received higher engagement from customers than we did at previous consultations and I believe using the 3D model played a significant role in that."

As a result of the phasing of community engagement, Gentoo was able to apply tweaks in advance to making a planning application. One significant outcome was the decision to adjust the entry points into the development based on public feedback, ensuring it would not become a through-route. Another critical change was integrating a linear park into the design, providing a green buffer that addressed community concerns about the layout of public open space.

Participants praised the platform's accessibility, noting that the 3D view made complex architectural designs easier to understand. Gentoo reported that using PlaceChangers' platform was a critical factor in the consultation's success and securing valuable feedback to help refine the final design.

Status: Approved at committee