Local residents vs transport planners

[jtr63]

Does anyone have any success stories or advice on approaches to take ? This is not a NIMBY campaign, but one where we want a broader range of solutions to be taken in to account. Relating to SW Cambridge Park and Ride, without considering increased train use and other options that would not draw extra traffic on roads leading to the P&R.

TIA
John

[Slarti]

Can't think of any success as the decision has usually been made long before the consultation starts and, being professionals, they must know better than the people in the area.

Slarti

[Dod101]

I have had success in a related topic (still transport) and we had to be at least as political as the local authority (I live in Scotland so it may not be entirely relevant)

What we did was try to identify the members of the Committee who make the recommendations and try to meet them. Also the local councillors in our area and identify the newest one because he/she will usually be happy to help in order to try to make an impression. Be polite but insistent at all times. Also attend the parish council (or equivalent) and again be polite but insistent and make sure you know at least as much about the subject as those you are lobbying do (often not that difficult)

On park and ride and transport matters in general I think it is difficult because many different areas are involved.

Does that help?

Dod

[ClaudiusTheIdiot]

1) If attending a meeting it looks much better if several people go along in support, even if one does most of the talking. Just one person can be dismissed as unrepresentative. A similar sort of comment applies to writing letters or emails, if you can persuade people to do it.

2) Each person, including those with whom you are campaigning, will have a different angle of view. Try to understand their priorities, and adjust what you ask for to get the maximum support.

3) Find where the money is coming from, and who has the most control over it. If you can get a word with them individually you can find what they see as a priority, and adjust your requests accordingly.

4) Check on the details of the proposals. Will they work? It's surprising (or perhaps not) that details of footways, cycleways, bus stops, and bus schedules can be overlooked by everyone.

5) Get into training by banging your head on a wall for half an hour each day.

[Dod101]

I endorse all that Claudius has said especially para 5) but you must not show your frustration. You need to play along with them. I managed to assemble several people with the same end point ambition as me but with a slightly different angle. Ultimately though you need to be of the same mind. I would emphasise becoming as near to an expert in the subject as you can because often the council officials will not know as much as you can but the counter to that is they all have all the time in the world.

Dod

[dspp]

I'm partway through one of these transportation matters campaigns so have a bit of experience, but on a much smaller scale than you from the sound of it. Our is so far 3-years long and we have agreed the outcome with the council, but are about 8-months from implementation. Prior to a recent change of tack (starting with campaign 3-years ago) there was 20-years where the council rode roughshod over the residents.

What brought about the change was :
1. demonstration that ignoring you will have real political consequences;
2. ability to prove you are representative of the local community;
3. specific proposals that are in line with the range of acceptable & implementable good practice;
4. evidence of need.

For 2 we identified the core geographical constituency, leafleted them, got their emails, names, phone numbers. Emailed them. Built up a cte. Discussed the issue. Obtained a range of solutions. Obtained evidence. Kept everyone informed. That is a slog. A real skill is in managing your own cte ............ !

For 1 we identified the politicians representing the area, in our case a mix of District Council and County Council. And then we very bluntly said "you've been ignoring us for 20-years and it has got to stop". If it doesn't stop here are things we will do that will create political nuisance for you, and we will keep on doing it until you start paying attention to our issues.

The reason that we were listened to was not only that we did 1&2, but also that we had evidence for 3&4, with specific, realistic proposals (SMART*) based on a study of the situation ourselves. That meant we could not be dismissed on technical grounds, and there were consequences politically if ignorance was adopted. It took us 2-1/2 years of campaigning and etc to get things ultimately agreed, but not yet implemented.

Hope that experience helps.

regards, dspp

[jtr63]

Thank you all for your replies.

A further question if I may following conversations last night. Is it worth trying to identify "experts" who can advise upon and possibly counter some of the more "detailed" issues that fall outside the bounds of research and common sense ? Where might such people be found ? Professional bodies ? University departments ?

John

[Dod101]

dspp has outlined in more detail pretty much what we did.

I would personally avoid 'experts'. The essence of what you are trying to do is become the expert yourselves. Pick someone else's brains if you like but do not put forward anything in their name, otherwise you are in danger of losing 'ownership' of the campaign to use that horrible bit of jargon.

Dod

[dspp]

I agree with Dod & Claudius. You have to wade through the detail yourself, sufficient to be able to go head to head with their expert (who generally is not an expert, but a middling grade apparatchik).

So, for example, if they say "you can't put a cycle path there", you can say "but Guideline X says it can & should be done this way, and an example locally of an equivalent is 5-miles away at Z". Until (or even if) you can get the local gov team into positive work-with-you mode, you need to be able to tackle this sort of stuff head on.

You need to bear in mind that there are real costs of implementation. Let's say that they are doing a road junction for £2m, then that is all their budget will be. So you cannot realistically propose an extra £2m of other measures. You might get (say) and extra £0.5m but you need to be proportionate in your asks. And the politicians you will need to force to acquiesce will be very conscious that the extra £0.5m is going to come from somewhere else that won't get done, and that in turn will have political costs for them. That is the reality.

Managing your own cte through this process is difficult. Most people do not get the technicalities, get frustrated, avoid reality, and grandstand, go on holiday, whatever. Keeping your cte together and aligned is - as Dod said - very important.

One practical thing I did was to keep the email list myself, and never let it out of my control. So any email was always a BCC style. That way I simultaneously kept data protection risks minimised; kept a consistency of message; and prevented the list getting hijacked for other (inevitably political) uses which in turn built up a level of trust in recipients.

regards, dspp