A Quality of Life Code of Practice

Community consultation and engagement are both important parts of the development planning process. This is in the context of major applications, design codes, estate regeneration, infrastructure projects, local plans, master planning, neighbourhood plans or town centre regeneration projects.
Engagement takes shape in a range of ways, including face-to-face meetings, workshops,digital platforms, household newsletters and surveys throughout the lifecycle of a project. However, ‘consultation’ and ‘engagement’ differ in their objectives, scope and level of involvement with local communities during the design development process or with project teams.
Community consultation typically involves seeking feedback from communities on planning proposals or projects, often on early concepts or on partially formed proposals. Community engagement, on the other hand, is a broader and more collaborative process that involves working with communities throughout the planning and design process.
We believe there are shared ethical standards that support effective consultation and engagement processes for all involved. We have brought those practice standards together in our Code of Practice.