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CHAPTER SIX STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP
Introduction
6.1 This section of the report summarises the findings from the stakeholder workshop held in June 2007 at the Scottish Government. Please refer to Appendix C for the stakeholder workshop flipchart templates.
6.2 It was important to bring representatives of the different stakeholder interests together to:
- present the emerging outcomes of the research to all; and
- promote cross sector and cross discipline debate and achieve general if not universal buy-in to key objectives for change and the potential mechanisms for securing these.
6.3 The workshop incorporated around 20 delegates, selected mainly from the earlier scoping workshop attendees to assist in continuity.
6.4 The key aims of the workshop were as follows:
- Using the outcomes of the research to date, and the views of the stakeholders, to set out clear objectives to address any deficiencies in implementation;
- Developing mechanisms for delivering against these objectives; and
- Appraising these potential mechanisms against the objectives to inform final recommendations.
6.5 The half-day workshop therefore commenced with a brief summary of the research results to date before attendees proceeded to discuss any major omissions and draft objectives for change, including the prioritisation of these using an electronic voting system.
Group Discussions
6.6 Following a brief plenary session on these issues, the attendees split into two breakout groups for to focus on two areas of discussion.
6.7 The first of these focussed on a number of key issues identified thus far through the research, and apportioning responsibility for addressing these issues. Highlights of these discussions are as follows:
- Potential for Local Authorities to address joint working on two key fronts: between planning policy and development control and between planning and transportation policy. Possible roles for the Scottish Government, COSLA, the Association of Planners and SCOTS (Society of Chief Officers of Transport in Scotland) were also identified in terms of providing training based on best practice.
- A role for local authorities in introducing Decriminalised Parking Enforcement ( DPE) to address problems of implementing and enforcing on-road parking controls surrounding developments.
- A role for the Scottish Government in providing guidance on application of parking standards in rural areas.
- A role for Transport Scotland in developing a single transport model for Scotland.
- A role for the Regional Transport Partnerships in addressing problems of competition between local authorities in terms of parking standards.
- A role for Transport Scotland and individual local authorities in preventing (often localised) political concerns from over-riding model/experience/policy based decisions.
- A general responsibility (local authorities, RTPs, developers, consultants, Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government) to ensure that designs are put into practice in delivery.
- An opportunity for the Scottish Government to introduce a legislative backing for SPP17.
6.8 The second area of discussion focussed on the draft objectives prepared by WSP for achieving greater implementation of SPP17. Attendees were asked to focus on key issues in relation to achieving each objective, consider how progress could be monitored, and consider how great a priority each objective was. Attendees were not limited to the draft objectives prepared by WSP, and were encouraged to create their own objectives if they thought aspects had been missed within those prepared. The draft objectives presented were:
1 Achieve greater integration within local authority planning and transportation departments.
2 Enable greater sharing of development best practice between statutory authorities and with the development sector.
3 Give SPP17 a higher profile and greater power to implement change.
4 Improve the links between the SPP17 agenda and the wider health, social and global sustainability agendas.
5 Enable best use of available techniques, tools and measures in furthering integration between transport and land use planning.
6.9 In general, these draft objectives met with stakeholder approval, and neither group suggested significantly different, alternative objectives. Both groups suggested minor alterations to the wording of some objectives, whilst one group wanted to remove objective 3 due to the consensus that this would be impossible to achieve.
6.10 Overall, the first two objectives were considered to be the most important, and potentially the most deliverable. In relation to these, three possible measures stood out as potential options:
- Establish joint training for transportation and planning staff, potentially taking advantage of best practice (for example the joint working practices at Edinburgh City Council).
- Establish a joint working group for local authority planning and transportation staff to enable greater sharing of best practice. There was a suggested role for SCOTS and Regional Transport Partnerships in this
- Create a national database of planning applications, so that practice in terms of integrated planning with transport issues can be shared more easily.
Table 6.1 Objective Prioritisation
6.11 The afternoon session focussed on identifying and considering a number of potential measures, identified both through WSP's work to date, and through the morning sessions, and appraising these against the draft objectives. This included an assessment of 'implementability' of each possible intervention. Possible interventions which performed particularly well against a number of objectives, and were considered to have a high level of implementability were:
- Establish clear sets of parking standards (on a regional or national level)
- Production of a guide to roles and responsibilities in implementing SPP17
- Improved consultation mechanisms at both a national and regional/local level (for example a national forum for development control, planning and transportation staff)
- Training for officers aimed at encouraging joint working between planning and transportation, detail and strategic staff.
- Training and awareness raising for local elected members, to increase understanding of the wider transport/land use policy framework
- Production of national guidance on the role of Accessibility planning in the development planning process
Afternoon plenary session and voting
6.12 Following the conclusion of the afternoon breakout group discussions, a further plenary session was held in which the group facilitators reported back to the wider group. As part of this plenary session, all attendees were asked to take part in two votes to establish overall opinions regarding the objectives and measures discussed. The structure and results of these two votes are shown in the figures below, and succinctly summarise the opinions of all attendees at the workshop.
6.13 The first vote asked attendees to rank the draft objectives out of 5 in terms of their importance to achieving greater implementation of SPP17. The results are set out below (charts 6.1 and 6.2).
Voting Results on objectives, in terms of their importance to achieving greater implementation of SPP17
14 people voted, rating from 1 to 5 on five objectives. The rating scale was as follows:
1: Very low importance 2: Low importance 3: Moderate importance 4: High importance 5: Very high importance
Chart 6.1 Average score afforded to each objective by attendees
6.14 Chart 6.1 above confirms that attendees felt that all the objectives had significant potential for achieving greater implementation of SPP17: all objectives scored an average of at least 3.5 out of 5. Achieving greater implementation within local authority planning and transportation departments was clearly considered to have the most such potential, scoring an average of 4.6 out of 5.
6.15 The second vote asked attendees to vote for the three specific measures which they felt would be most beneficial in terms of assisting implementation. The results can be seen below.
Voting Results on Measures which would be most beneficial in terms of assisting implementation of SPP17
13 people voted with 3 votes each to cast totalling 39 votes - an average of 3 votes per measure if each was to score equally
Chart 6.2 Number of votes which each measure received.
6.16 As illustrated in chart 6.2, the voting exercise indicated that the most highly rated measure that would be beneficial in terms of assisting implementation of SPP17 would be to provide legislative backing to the policy.
6.17 This measure, together with the highest rated objective of achieving greater integration within local authorities, raise a range of complex issues that are out with the scope of this study but require further consideration by the Scottish Government and other key stakeholders. Nevertheless, attendees did recognise that there were a range of other measures that could potentially be taken forward to assist in the implementation of the SPP17 agenda. These included:
- Improved travel plan monitoring and enforcement;
- Clearer guidance on developer contributions;
- Training sessions for local authority officers on issues and tools relevant to SPP17;
- Greater use of accessibility planning techniques and analysis promoted through guidance; and
- Clear guidance and greater influence for local authorities in respect of rail development and bus regulation mechanisms to help deliver the public transport improvements that are such a key component of the SPP17 agenda.
6.18 The two tables on the following pages summarise the key findings of the workshop including the very constructive debate on the roles of different agencies/authorities in delivering these implementation-measures.
Table 6.2 SPP17 Issues - Covering specific responsibilities
Table 6.3 SPP17 Issues - Covering specific responsibilities
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