Consultation
Consultation is a very broad term and there are very many
different interpretations of what it means; ranging from informing
people about projects in the area to actively engaging them in
decision making.
Some find it useful to think about consultation in along the
following lines:
Information Giving
Telling people what is planned. Inviting
feedback.
This is the minimum requirement for many of the statutory
consultations that the Council is involved in, such as Planning
Applications and Traffic Regulation Orders
Information Gathering
Offering options, listening to and acting on
feedback
As is implied by the title; this is what many understand by the
term consultation. Traditional processes are used to inform
strategies, service planning and projects, including surveys,
public meetings, etc
Deciding together
Encouraging others to provide some additional ideas and
options, and join in deciding the best way forward.
This is more of a deliberative process and one which works well
with smaller groups of people, sometimes in a formal environment-
such as meetings with representative groups or informally through
focus groups and workshops. These processes can be part of an
on-going process (for example to inform transport planning and
libraries ‘friends groups’) or one-off (for example to inform the
strategies and policies).
Working Together
Deciding together what is best, and forming a partnership to
carry it out.
The Council is the lead organisation for the Local Strategic
Partnership, which includes other local public services including
the police, local health trust and other organisations such as
residents associations and parish and town councils.
Through the LSP the council has formulated a Community
Strategy and will be developing a Local Area Agreement.
Supporting independent community initiatives
Helping others do what they want - within a framework of
grants, advice and support provided by the Council.
The Council is involved in actively supporting independent
community and voluntary organisations through funding and by
helping them in the work that they do.
The Council is also involved in setting up a Local Area
Committee in south Bath as part of a pilot project to hand more
power to local communities.
