Newington was brought on in early 2016 to help build political support for the Peel Group's major regeneration proposals in Gloucester. We secured cross-party support for the plans ensuring that planning permission was granted despite opposition from officers and a recommendation for refusal.
The Peel Group were seeking planning permission to deliver a £15 million regeneration project including the renovation of the Peel Centre and the construction of a new megastore for a major retailer. Planning officers at the council were recommending refusal after commissioning an independent report advising that the proposals be refused. This recommendation was flawed as it was strongly grounded on the outdated principle that the planning applications would compete with the local authority’s flagship regeneration scheme in the town centre. This was despite an announcement that the town centre scheme had been revised and was no longer the same in nature as the Peel Group’s proposals.
Having been brought onto the project once the planning applications had already been submitted, our strategy focused on identifying the key council influencers that would provide support for the project ahead of the planning committee meeting. This was split into two strands; political stakeholder engagement and local community support generation. Particular focus was placed on securing cross party support to counteract the recommendation for refusal from officers.
Members from both the Conservative and Labour groups publicly expressed their support for the proposals and attended the planning committee meeting where the plans were being considered. This included the ward councillors, one of whom spoke in support at the committee meeting, with the committee voting to grant planning permission for the new megastore against the officer’s recommendation for refusal. We also acted to mobilise public support for the proposals, building on known support to secure letters and emails of support submitted to Gloucester’s planning department.
Roger Wheeldon, Director of Development, said “Newington provided us with valuable support in achieving a positive determination for this project. Their political understanding was evident in the strategy that they developed, which was key to effectively engaging the right political influencers to secure the necessary support for the application at committee.”
