Public consultation via Facebook or Twitter - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Hello I set up a Facebook page for Trafford' Core Strategy Preferred Options stage. The amount of interest it generated was fantastic and I believe that Trafford's community were made aware of the Core Strategy through Facebook and contributed and without it they may not have been aware. The number of responses we had could have been better but I am confident that the next time round the number of responses will improve. Other authorities have followed suit and Salford have had a successful consultation through Facebook for their Core Strategy. I have recently been made aware that Lichfield are using Twitter for planning applications and each day I seem to be hearing how social networking sites are being used to consult with the general public in one way or another. Being a part time student, I have also decided to concentrate on this subject for my dissertation so any further information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Damien

We tried to use Facebook to generate interest in our LDV and thus have the knock on effect of locals being informed about the Area Action Plan, but after setting up a profile, we realised that we don't really want to see if Stacey is now listed as married or that Fred changed his status to 'is eating chips' or Bonnie was tagged in 4 photos. How did people get around that? Did they set up a profile or something else? Was it a group and if so how was that managed? By someone's private account? Damien could you please tell us what you did precisely? Thanks

I am guessing that you have created a Facebook 'Group' whereas as I created a Facebook 'Page', and there are pros and cons to doing both. I created an account on behalf of the Council and set up the Page that way. Unfortunately the limitations to a Page being that you are unable to formally invite people to join the Page or 'become a fan' but if you are not interested in what Tim had for his dinner then you don't get that. Salford have created a Group and have quite a number of members. The advantages of a Page are that you are able to analyse the demographics of your members so I can see the number of males and females and also the age categories they fall into. Also I can analyse the number of hits the page gets, again something you are unable to do with a Group, any other information about the members is not disclosed. The Page was managed by myself and I was able to keep an eye on the content of any comments made and it is a technique we will be looking at using for the next stage of consultation on our Core Strategy. What authority do you work for? Has anyone else attempted to set up a Social Network Site for consultation purposes? Thanks Damien

Sounds very interesting. Unfortunately my council, Liverpool has a blanket ban on these sites. Has anyone experienced this and managed to persuade those in control to change policy. If so what argument held sway? Could PAS/CLG step in?

M Eccles, I would check that this is in Council policy as there was a ban across the Council here at Trafford but I was granted permission from my Manager and IT allowed me access to Facebook when I informed them that it would be used to try and engage members of the public. It would be defnitely worth challenging this. I have just written a research report as part of my Masters studies looking into consultation on planning policy through Social Network Sites and the results showed that authorities throughout the country are using them with varying degrees of success but overall the feedback was very positive and comments generated via Facebook were being analysed in the same way as other comments made and used to inform policy writing within Core Strategies. Good luck.

Having looked at the Trafford example I created a Facebook and Twitter page for the Planning Policy Section at Sunderland City Council. These can be seen at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunderland-United-Kingdom/Sunderland-City-Council-Planning-Policy-Section/143850600228 and also at http://twitter.com/SCCPlanPol The creation of these pages were checked with ICT and confirmed they were for Council purposes and not personal. Several sections have contacted us as to how the sites are going and what response we've had, we've explained these sites are an additional tool in trying to consult with the general public. Additional methods of informing people of these sites are hyperlinks on our Planning Policy webpages (see www.sunderland.gov.uk/corestrategy) and also on our electronic signatures on our emails. The Council has recently created a Social Media Working Group looking at how these forms of media are able to be best utilised and whether a corporate policy should be introduced? A key factor gaining approval is that many of the people creating and updating the pages are also web-authors and therefore have the relative authority and permissions to create and edit the council's webpages. If anyone needs any further info let me know: joe.nugent@sunderland.gov.uk Thanks, Joe

Hey guys, I am studying Urban Planning at Liverpool John Moores and in my final year. For my dissertation, i am looking at how the latest information technologies are changing the planning system, from the research and submission of a planning application, to the appeals and consultation processes. As part of my research, i am looking to gather the thoughts and opinions of planning consultants, officers and committee members regarding the use of the internet within planning- how the technology can make the process easier as well as improve public consultation and therefore participation. Any input, advise and guidance would be more than appreciated. @Damien Cutting: how are you finding the implementation of social networking sites in improving public involvement? Is it worth it and are you witnessing a high interest in the sites? I shall be sticking around the PAS forums, hoping to become involved in new discussion, and if anyone has any information, they can email me at: A.C.Jalali@2007.ljmu.ac.uk or andy.jalali@mac.com Thanks, Andrew Jalali. Urban Planning Student.