Engaging with the community is integral to the position of the urban and regional planner, as the community is the largest stakeholder in urban and regional planning. It can often be challenging for planners to actively engage with the community to communicate and convey planning matters. This is due to the fact that urban planners and the terminology and legislation surrounding planning in New South Wales (NSW) is overwhelming and rather confusing for the typical person with no planning experience. Due to the often-unpredictable nature of the community, urban and regional planners are either highly pessimistic or highly idealistic when it comes to community engagement and consultation in the planning and development processes. It is also similar for the public to have a certain view or opinion when it comes to the planning and development process. Overtime, there have been many examples when community engagement has been effective for planners when justifying a particular development or strategy. Furthermore, amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), will change the way in which urban and regional planners engage with the community.
The importance of community engagement is presented in literary works by Paul Davidoff (1965). Davidoff’s “Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning” was published in the Journal of the American Institute of Planners in 1965. Davidoff’s literary work focused on the importance of positive community engagement and participation due to the negative view of town planners during the 1960’s who were considered to be arrogant (Giddings, 2006). Davidoff’s concept of pluralism and advocacy in planning focused on creating fairness and equity when it came to planning and development. The advocacy planning concept is where the urban and regional planners assume the role of assisting applicants to prepare developments and plans in which the planner is willing to support. Davidoff further argues that the role of the planner is to advocate their own values and morals and they should be represented in all work prepared by the urban planner.
Advocacy in planning can be beneficial to the community as it allows for the urban planner to engage and work for/and alongside the socio-economic status of all people. Furthermore, Davidoff argues that pluralism in planning is also important as it allows for urban and regional planners to have a more significant presence when it comes to the planning and development process. Pluralism in planning involves the urban planner by means of allowing the planner to explore alternate options within the planning and development process. Pluralism in planning can be considered the way in which planners ‘appease’ both parties to achieve a reasonable outcome. It is an important concept as it allows for the community and the applicant to actively engage with the urban planner. This grants the opportunity for the community to voice their opinions, concerns, or support during the planning and development process. Therefore, the importance of advocacy and pluralism in planning is important for the urban and regional planner as it is their role and responsibility to provide and inform the community of the decisions being made with respect to planning and development. Furthermore, advocacy and pluralism in planning allows the community to have a more significant input during the planning and development process. This can be considered beneficial to the urban planner as it provides opportunity for feedback, both positive and negative, towards the preparation of strategic planning documents or development applications. Thus, the responsibility rests largely on the planner to engage with the community so as to achieve a reasonable and fair outcome.
Community engagement is one of the many responsibilities that urban and regional planners are required to undertake to ensure that the community is well informed and educated about the planning and development process. The planning and development process can be difficult to comprehend for those with no planning or development background. It is therefore responsibility of the planning officer to actively engage with the community to ensure that the planning and development process is well understood by those involved or affected by such planning decisions. When making strategic and development planning decisions, the community is the largest stakeholder. The aim of the planning process is to encourage the urban and regional planners to include the community rather than exclude them from the process (Davidoff, 1965). Community engagement allows for the public to voice their opinions or concerns surrounding the planning and development process. Furthermore, the concept of community participation is not new. There is written evidence to suggest that the practice of community consultation and engagement has been practiced prior to the Middle Ages (Roberts, 2004).
Urban planner’s roles to actively engage the community became a focal point of many planning theories since the late 1980s and 1990s (Mahjabeen, 2009). According to Forester (1993), he demonstrated that when urban planners engaged with the community throughout the planning and development process, they increased the community’s sense of “civic duty,” particularly in 21st Century planning practices.
Narromine Shire Council undertook a community consultation process (January 2018) surrounding a rural residential strategy. The consultation included public exhibition of the strategy to seek public interest and comment. The strategy received several submissions both for and against the strategy, however; some of the submissions received perceived the strategy to be nothing more than a ‘land grab’ from council; this was not the intent. The overall aim of the rural residential strategy was not to significantly change the amount of R5 zoned land in the previous Rural Residential Strategy (GHD, 2013), but to achieve a balance of supply and demand so as to place a priority of land that was more suited to the rural lifestyle, with limited constraints. The community consultation process undertaken by Narromine Shire Council at the time was vital in providing information to the community to reiterate and to validify the fact that Council was not rezoning land for a ‘land grab’. Council took this opportunity to positively engage and inform local residents of the strategy and its intent, and as a result of the community consultation process, 28 out of the 30 submissions recanted their negative and pessimistic approach towards the strategy and became supportive of the strategy. This example is a perfect indication of just how important the community consultation process is. Without the community’s support and endorsement, it would have become politically difficult for the Department of Planning and the Councilors to actively endorse the strategy if the community did not support it.
It is clear that the planning process can be somewhat complex and confusing for the average person. Thus, the importance of planners actively engaging with the community is an integral part of the role. There are several ways in which local governments and urban planners engage the community. They include public information sessions/workshops, public exhibition events, and media/communication releases (Barker, n.d.). As a result of legislative reform, in March 2018, the updated and amended Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) reflects significant changes in how planning is to be conducted in NSW. The new legislation introduces a variety of amendments and changes that the relevant planning authority is required to comply with. One of the most significant reforms in the new Act surrounds ‘Community Participation Plans’.
Community Participation Plans (CCP) will be enforced as of mid-2019. The CPPs require that every council to detail when the community will be involved in local planning matters but more importantly, how they will be involved. Discussion with the NSW Department of Planning in May of 2018 indicates that there will be a standard ‘template’ for councils to assist in ensuring that community consultation and participation is consistent across all Local Government Areas. Community Participation Plans are being introduced statewide in an attempt to, “set the standard for how communities should be engaged” (NSW Department of Planning & Environment). Furthermore, under Schedule 1 of the EP&A Act 1979, minimum community consultation requirements have been introduced to ensure that the community is able to have an input towards strategic planning documents. The overall aim of the new and updated Act is to provide a simpler more streamlined process of planning and development in NSW but more importantly, aims to ensure that the decisions made by the relevant planning authority are of merit an actively include the community. Conversely, the downside to this is that the legislation does not clarify or state what the urban planners will do when they receive said submissions and whether or not they will be acted upon or disregarded.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the responsibility of the urban planner to increase community engagement is significant. The importance of community engagement is paramount when it comes to the planning and development process as the community is the largest stakeholder. In order for planning and development to be supported by the community, the people must be well informed and aware of the planning and development process. To achieve this, the onus is on the planner to ensure that the opportunities for the community to participate are available to all. Opportunities for engagement in the planning and development process allows for the planners to address the needs of the community; it can also assist in the prevention of misguided opinions from spreading, therefore enhancing the planning and development process for the community.