Campaign Showcase: 2017 Public Affairs Awards Planning Campaign of the Year

Campaign: The lakes by Yoo. Building trusted community relationships

Coln Park LLP, a joint venture between Raven Russia and Yoo Capital, first secured an outline planning consent for the Lakes by yoo in the Cotswolds in 2006. The outline consent included the development of luxury holiday homes and a hotel.

In late 2015, Connect were retained by the Lakes by yoo to reset their relationship with the community and its representatives, to engage the community positively in the development of a new masterplan, extending development over neighbouring gravel pits, and to help to secure planning permission for the new scheme.

From the outset, Connect sought to understand the concerns of the community and its representatives, and put in place a strategy which addressed specific issues, established two-way communications and involved residents in the development of the new masterplan. The following provides an overview of the most significant issues and how each was considered in turn.

Confusion regarding the planning process

Since planning permission was first secured, residents and local representatives had become frustrated by the sheer quantity and detail of the subsequent reserved matters applications being made (for each individual home), amendments being proposed to the original masterplan, applications to close or divert footpaths across the site.

Each application made to Cotswold District Council over a period of ten years had taken up a significant amount of time for parish councillors to understand and then provide a response to. 

Connect advised Coln Park LLP that the new master planning process must seek to finalise the plans once and for all, provide clear timescales for delivery of the whole of the Lakes by yoo and be accompanied by a timed delivery plan for the reopening of existing footpaths. By doing so, Connect secured the buy-in of residents and parish councils to a full consultation process including exhibitions, workshops and presentations to parish councils. 

These were fully resourced by the client and the consultant team so that the plans could be easily understood, answers were provided to questions and clear information was provided about the planning process and more technical issues as the flood alleviation measures and ecological investment. 

Connect ensured that Coln Park LLP has continued to communicate regularly and effectively through newsletters and attending parish council meetings. 

A ‘closed community’

For the majority of residents, the Lakes by yoo was seen as a closed community, developed in their local countryside, which they were not welcome to visit. To overcome this sentiment, Connect used consultation techniques which opened the Lakes up to the community.

This included mini bus tours of the whole estate as part of the first exhibition, meetings with residents and parish councils on site, hosting community events including ecological days for the local schools to which parents were also invited to attend and establishing an annual summer fete.

The closure and diversion of public rights of way across the site had caused significant anger among some of the communities most influential residents, which was of particular concern for the local district councillor. Connect established a footpath working group, with representatives of each parish council, to develop a timetabled plan to reopen the rights of way. An essential element of the working group’s activity included walking the existing public rights to identify where investment needed to be made to improve accessibility and where small changes could be made to improve the views to the lakes and other wildlife. By establishing such successful engagement, we learnt that a key aspiration for the parish councils was to gain access to neighbouring, private land to establish a riverside walk along the River Coln, which was being strongly resisted by the landowner. Coln Park LLP took on this challenge and liaised directly with the neighbouring landowner to achieve this important local community win.

The need to invest in the community

Despite charitable donations being made to several local causes, the community felt that the Lakes by yoo did little to support the surrounding community. Connect advised that Coln Park LLP took a more structured approach to supporting charities and community groups by establishing an annual application process. Through media activity and the parish councils, Connect sought to advertise this process widely and secured positive media coverage for successful organisations such as the Lechlade Lions, the Newfoundland Friends and the local business club.

In response to the community’s strong interest in protecting and enhancing the local environment, Connect supported the Lakes by yoo to establish a dedicated Eco Fund. The fund provides grants and support via a team of specialist to groups and charities to undertake projects which invest in biodiversity and restore habitats, with the objective of protecting the Cotswolds for future generations. A judging panel was established including representatives of the Coln Park LLP, the Cotswold Water Park Trust and the local district councillor.

Delivering benefits for the community

Residents were unaware or sceptical about any benefits that the Lakes by yoo provided locally. Throughout the consultation and engagement activity, Connect developed communications messages that provided evidence about the investment made by Coln Park LLP, and the economic and environment benefits that flowed to the community. This included quantifying the spending of second-home owners and the Lakes by yoo as a business at independent shops in the surrounding villages and providing information about the substantial environmental restoration works already undertaken and that would be delivered by the new masterplan.

Connect advised Coln Park LLP that further commitments should be made as part of the master planning process and to take on board the views of the community. This included:

• the Lakes by yoo providing an affordable spa member package for residents to make use of their facilities.
• developing a directory of local shops and services for second-home owners to support the local economy
• enabling the riverside walk by engaging with the adjacent landowner
• reducing the size of the proposed visitors centre to be in line with residents' aspirations
• committing to shortened timescales for delivering the masterplan to bring the gravel extraction to end more quickly and to reopen the closed and new footpaths.

Outcomes

• Letters supporting the new masterplan sent to Cotswold District Council by local businesses, community groups, parish councils and residents.
• Significant positive media coverage in the local newspapers and online forums.
• Planning permission for new masterplan was granted locally by Cotswold District Council in early November 2016.
• Subsequent reserved matters applications have been approved by Cotswold District Council.