More case studies and an understanding of how we work, is illustrated in our book - Managing Green Issues by Tom Curtin and Jacqueline Pluves
Part of College Public Policy,
a College Hill Company
Case Study 1:
Thurrock Shopping Park (Lakeside)
Green Issues was instructed by The Junction (part of Capital and Regional) to provide public affairs advice and support on their proposals for the redevelopment of the Thurrock Shopping Park (Lakeside).
The plans included an X-Scape ski centre and 1,000,000 sq ft of retail. The proposals also had the potential to create 4,000 jobs and incorporated a skills centre designed to provide training during the construction phase and beyond.
However, the Panel Report on the draft East of England Plan (RSS) stated that there should be ‘..no net gain in retail floorspace in the Lakeside Basin’ for the duration of the Plan (20 years). The Secretary of State then published the Proposed Changes to the Plan and did not recommend the removal of this prohibitive sentence. At this point a final round of consultation commenced on the Secretary of State’s proposed changes and it was at this point that Green Issues was instructed.
Green Issues began by doing initial research on the validity of the statement and the key players who may be able to exert influence in order to have this sentence removed from the final Plan. This research also involved looking into the rationale behind the initial inclusion of the sentence and the individuals and groups who had something to gain from it.
Working with our planning consultants, we put together a compelling planning case as to why this sentence was obstructive to the ongoing regeneration of the Lakeside Basin and contradictory to many of the aspirations set out in the draft Plan which referred to ‘transformational regeneration and change in the wider Lakeside Basin’.
The initial task for GI was to persuade representatives of all tiers of Government and other relevant stakeholders to make representations in support of our proposals, asking for the removal of this sentence from the emerging Plan.
Green Issues then ensured that RPS’ document was submitted to all stakeholders identified in tier 1 of our stakeholder segmentation document as well as the Regional Assembly who were accepting formal, written representations on the Plan.
Green Issues produced a number of tailormade letters which were sent out to all parties deemed relevant. These letters were worded according to the recipient and his/her sphere of interest and also had an invitation to meet.
We called upon our considerable network of contacts and began an intensive round of meetings with all parties concerned who felt it appropriate to meet.
GI presented to a representatives of all tiers of government as well as business and interest groups, persuading the majority of them to submit formal representations to the Regional Assembly opposing the content of the East of England Plan.
It was clear to us that the groups and individuals who had most to gain by restricting the growth of the Lakeside were the representatives of local authorities in close proximity to our site who, understandably, had the interests of their own town centre regeneration projects at heart. Therefore, wining the ‘buy in’ of these local authorities and demonstrating this to the Secretary of State through formal representations to the Regional Assembly would go a long way to helping The Junction achieve its aims.
Our initial round of meetings had uncovered a number of third party advocates who included the Chief executive of the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership We persuaded her write a formal representation to the Regional Assembly to ask all members of the organisation, who consisted Chief Executives of every local authority in the sub-region, to sign it.
Following the closing deadline for formal representations, we kept in close contact with all supportive parties and attended a number of very productive briefings and presentations, building a good deal of support along the way. We also kept in close contact with the local MP and produced a number of briefings and letters for him, including a letter which he sent directly to the Secretary of State asking her to intervene. He also raised the matter in the House of Commons and requested a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss this further.
As well as the representatives of business groups, who continued to lobby on our behalf, we also utilised contacts at DCLG and the unions in order to exert influence through the NEC and ensure that our message heard and was being discussed in the upper tiers of government.
The final Plan was published on May 21st 2008 with the erroneous sentence removed. GI will now work closely with on the next stage of the project which will involve a significant programme of stakeholder engagement and community consultation.
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