Consulting with youngsters reduces commercial planning risk
Ask yourself this question: Who are we building the houses for today? The answer of course is the youngsters of the next generation who we want to own a home one day.
You organise the drop-in at the village hall and only more mature home owners show up to come and tell you how awful you are and vehemently object to you. Always on the same dressed up reasons… Not enough GP places, too much traffic, flooding etc. etc.
A House of Lords committee has been pondering this question too and made recommendations to the Government that engaging young people in the planning system can “reduce commercial risk” for developers, recommending that it “harness the power of video games” to increase such age groups' interest in the built environment and strengthen planning policy to “explicitly require children and young people to be consulted… explore opportunities for younger people to interact, engage with, work in and help share their views and experiences of the built environment”.
In a letter sent to the Labour Government the committee concluded “that children and young people not only care deeply about the places around them, but also have much to contribute to shaping them”. The letter also said that “early and meaningful engagement with children and young people could reduce commercial risk to developers by minimising delays and building trust in the community”.
Effective engagement with young people could “allow developers to gather valuable feedback to inform decision making and ultimately create better places”, it said. The committee noted that “today’s generation of children and young people are the most digitally connected in history”. The committee “heard evidence about the use of digital tools, particularly video games, as a means to engage children and young people, and develop their interest in the built environment sector”.
The committee called on the government to “refine” existing “statutory obligations for planning processes” to “explicitly require children and young people to be consulted”.
“If we want to tackle the so-called NIMBY vs YIMBY debate, if we want to grow the economy and build more homes, if we want people to feel they are shaping their own communities then looking at ways of engaging and involving young people is an enormous step forward…Children and young people care about the built environment and effective engagement with them can help to reduce commercial and planning risk...”
At the CCP we have developed a specialised programme to conduct meaningful engagement with school aged children. You have to also consider that every child on average could influence up to 10 adults when the mummies, daddies, granny, grandpop, uncles aunties etc. get a clear positive message. If you want the next generation to own a home, you had better support this.
Get in touch and I’ll tell you more!
Henry
07736121014