TRANSPORT AND REGENERATION

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The Brief

Counter Context was commissioned to engage key stakeholders and interest groups in support of four projects being proposed to deliver Bradford’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) programme for new, sustainable transport infrastructure. The aim was to ensure early sighting of the proposals in their earliest stages to build understanding and trust in the proposals, and to identify any key issues and opportunities to inform the proposals as they were developed. We were also tasked with supporting the council’s communications team to issue any public communication on TCF and ensure any messaging was consistent with that issued by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).

What We Did

We developed core messaging based on background research on both transport in Bradford and the wider regeneration and sustainability context for the city. We developed the initial press information to announce successful funding allocations for the projects and developed the communications and engagement plan for the initial Strategic Outline Case required to confirm each project. We then developed a key stakeholder institution and interest group plan and delivered the stakeholder engagement to ensure there was input to the development of the project plans at the very earliest stage.

Outcome

The initial engagement ensured key organisations and groups were aware of and understood the vision of the project and had the opportunity to help to shape the proposals to deliver the best schemes possible. Where potential issues were identified, they could be addressed before significant work had been undertaken to design up the schemes ensuring the most efficient use of resources. The public communications work and key messages development also ensured that communication was consistent and shared by partners across the project, and that the media and public were informed of the plans. Further to this initial work, Counter Context was successful in being appointed to undertake the public consultation and stakeholder engagement for the TCF schemes as they are developed further.

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The Brief

Sheffield City Council and Queensberry required strategic communications support during the development of a seven-hectare site in the heart of Sheffield city centre. The £470m Heart of the City scheme is one of Sheffield’s most important economic projects and one of the Council’s highest profile initiatives.

Our extensive brief encompasses message development, production of promotional materials, stakeholder management and community engagement.

What We Do

We manage strategic communications including digital communication, PR support, events, design and consultation events. A project of this scale and complexity requires a wide skill set and a sound understanding of the local context.

As the development launched, we curated a prestigious stakeholder launch event for 200 senior business leaders and facilitated a public exhibition which attracted over 3,500 visitors. We continue to manage various consultation processes and ensure the people of Sheffield are kept informed and involved in the transformation of this key part of the city centre.

The Heart of the City project continues to evolve and is transforming Sheffield city centre, its amenities and the experience of residents and visitors. We have most recently been involved in supporting planning applications and communicating plans for the development of a new Radisson Blu hotel in the centre of the scheme and a brand new city centre park.

Outcome

Counter Context has worked on behalf of Sheffield City Council (SCC) for over five years to support Heart of the City, its flagship city centre regeneration scheme. Counter Context’s wide-ranging scope includes consultation and community engagement; key stakeholder management; and strategic communications advice. We undertake comprehensive stakeholder mapping and stakeholder.

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The Brief

Since 2018 Counter Context has been working with Far East Consortium and Manchester City Council to support the delivery of one of the North West’s biggest urban regeneration programmes: the 155-hectare Northern Gateway scheme in Manchester.

What We Did

Our work started with the design and delivery of a wide-ranging stakeholder engagement and consultation programme to support the development of a masterplan for the Northern Gateway. This masterplan set the blueprint for how the Northern Gateway will be developed as a pioneering residential-led development over the next 20 years.

The masterplan is structured around several smaller neighbourhoods, each with a distinctive identity. As the project will take many years to deliver, one of our main challenges was to set out the vision and benefits of the project, achieving buy-in for its objectives among local stakeholders, whilst also managing expectations about the timescales involved.

Counter Context developed an overarching Stakeholder Engagement and Consultation Strategy for the project, which identified key audience groups, including existing residents, businesses, local service providers, community groups and statutory organisations, and developed a tailored plan for positively engaging with each of them.

Our team co-ordinates the engagement activity, which comprise business workshops, community consultation events, a website-based consultation, and the design of a range of supporting materials. We also produce comprehensive Consultation Reports which explain how responses to the consultation are influencing the development of the masterplan.

Outcome

The masterplan, or Strategic Regeneration Framework, was formerly approved by Manchester City Council in 2019 and the initial Consultation Report we produced was a key piece of evidence cited in the Executive meeting. The findings from the consultation and engagement activity delivered by our team have since been used to support a range of funding bids.

We continue to support Far East Consortium and Manchester City Council on delivering the Northern Gateway project, as they begin developing schemes across each of the individual neighbourhoods within the Gateway area.

For more information visit http://northerngatewaymanchester.co.uk

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The Brief

Counter Context’s role on NOMA, Manchester’s 20-acre mixed-use development, is as multi-faceted as the project itself. We manage community and stakeholder engagement, ensuring those living and working nearby are informed, engaged and listened to. Positive positioning within the community is crucial to minimising reputational risk that can be associated with such a large-scale development.

What We Do

Not only do we deliver bespoke consultation strategies for new buildings, we also support NOMA on an ongoing basis. Recognising that NOMA is a live project, we manage a number of platforms that keep members of the community up to speed. We also promote and encourage the use of the new public realm by facilitating engagement with local community groups.

Outcome

We have worked with NOMA since 2010, and have provided calm and considered communication to support a range of consultation and engagement projects. Our experience in community consultation on tall buildings in urban areas helped NOMA to successfully navigate the pre-application process for Angel Gardens, a 34 storey PRS development, as well as for two office buildings, 2 and 3 Angel Square.

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The Brief

Our client’s vision was not just to build houses. They wanted to create a fully serviced community of nearly 1,600 homes on a 42-acre greenfield site north of Leicester, with the rationale of easing strains on existing nearby facilities.

This was a high-profile development amongst an active local community and with significant media interest, so a sensitive and responsive approach was needed.

What We Did

Counter Context consulted over 8,000 members of the Leicestershire community and wider stakeholders. We provided end to end consultation services to support the planning application requirements for this significant development.

Our robust and inclusive pre-application consultation involved extensive political analysis, engagement with councillors, a programme of four community exhibitions and pro-active and reactive media engagement.

We worked to promote positive, practical and considerate messaging. Through demonstrating how the creation of a genuine new community, which included a school and shops, would not worsen but relieve pressure on existing public services, we were able to satisfactorily address these key concerns.

Outcome

The open, positive and sincere approach to consultation was praised in a number of responses from local residents. Our work laid the foundations for meaningful cooperation with the local community as the scheme continues to develop.

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The Brief

Counter Context was appointed to engage market traders and retailers to establish what they would like to see delivered through proposals for a new market hall and mixed-use redevelopment of the town’s Galleries shopping centre. The requirement was to implement an engagement plan that would allow in-depth constructive conversations to take place to identify opportunities and concerns that might exist.

What We Did

Based on the brief, we designed a bespoke engagement approach designed to ensure all market traders and retailers could contribute to the process, while concurrently establishing representative working groups of both retailers and market traders, to stimulate in-depth engagement.

Meeting over a number of sessions, the working group was designed to ensure the discussions of the working group were fed back to the wider membership of retailers and market traders and that everyone could comment. The content for meetings was designed to explain the wider market trends driving the project and to then allow for consideration of experiences from elsewhere to inform the discussions. The format allowed positives and negatives on various options to be explored and fed back on to take account of complex considerations.

We quickly adapted the engagement to operate the final session remotely despite Covid-19, with the engagement and feedback summarised in an engagement report for the Council.

Outcome

Our final summary report ensured that feedback from those most directly affected by the proposals was generated and provided to the Council to inform the emerging plans of potential development partners for the project. The process of engagement also ensured directly affected market traders and retailers were kept informed as to how the project proposals were developing and that they were aware of the key drivers underpinning the project. Our commission was also extended to continue engagement as the project is progressed.

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The Brief

The multi-award-winning Glass Works regeneration scheme is central to a new chapter for Barnsley town centre. The Glass Works is set to create approximately 1,100 jobs in Barnsley by 2025 by driving footfall back into the town – jobs that will help aid Barnsley’s economic recovery plan.

Queensberry and the local authority needed a trusted partner to help communicate the transformational project and ensure stakeholder management and messaging had clarity and impact.

What We Manage

In a wide-ranging scope, our strategic communications brief includes PR and media management, as well as stakeholder management and local communications, including e-newsletters, social media and profile-raising events. We work closely with print and broadcast media outlets to tell the story of Barnsley town centre's ongoing regeneration.

Construction is ongoing and the current emphasis of our communications is on keeping people focused on the exciting end result.

Outcome

The first phase of the development saw the historic Barnsley Markets move to a new contemporary home and the opening of a state-of-the-art new library and an independent food court, Market Kitchen. The scheme remains on schedule for a late 2021 completion.

For more information visit https://theglassworksbarnsley.com

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The Brief

Counter Context was appointed to design and deliver a public consultation and targeted engagement with affected key stakeholders and decision makers in support of a proposed new major residential development, opposite a listed building and within a conservation area in central Nottingham.

What We Did

The development was to be located in the station conservation area, a district of Nottingham that is the focus of a number of developments and regeneration projects. While seen as positive by some, others were concerned at the pace of development in the area. Counter Context developed key messaging to communicate the sustainability of the development and location, and the suitability of the design within the local context.

We designed and delivered a comprehensive and robust consultation strategy to directly engage local residents, writing to each neighbouring homeowner and local councillors directly, developing an eye-catching consultation website and hosting a community drop-in session. We also managed media engagement to secure positive news coverage of the plans, as well as responses to public and stakeholder queries.

Outcome

Our consultation strategy saw the development positively received by the majority of the community and was covered positively in the local media. The planning application was successfully approved at Planning Committee in late 2019.

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The Brief

The University of Leicester’s capital programme includes a mixture of new build projects and refurbishments to some of the most notable buildings on campus. It also includes wide-ranging upgrades to public spaces and investment in sustainable transport links to create a more attractive, cohesive and low carbon campus.

Counter Context joined the team in 2017, working alongside the University’s estates team, master-planners and planning consultants, to develop and deliver a communications strategy to support the capital programme.

What We Did

Our role included stakeholder and community engagement, PR advice, public affairs positioning and support to internal communications activities. The regional positioning of the capital programme has focused on the socio-economic contribution that the University makes to the region and the positive impact the campus improvements will have on this. As a leading research institution, the University of Leicester’s expertise in medicine, space exploration and social sciences helps to put the region on the map.

Outcome

Key successes so far have included a new, more proactive approach to community engagement, where local councillors and community groups have praised the regular communication and the responsiveness of the team to their questions and requests. This has contributed to the programme’s first two major schemes gaining planning approval. We continue to support the University as plans progress and they continue actively consulting with the local community and stakeholders.

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The Brief

Counter Context was commissioned in late 2019 to develop and deliver a strategy to engage with several key stakeholder groups to share, test and generate feedback on initial concepts underpinning the emerging new Manchester City Centre Transport Strategy. The goal was to build understanding of the issues and opportunities and to generate support for the process.

What We Did

We developed a bespoke strategy to engage representatives from various interest groups and stakeholders via individual workshops. The sessions were designed to update attendees on the rationale for the new strategy, the outcomes of the previous consultation, work undertaken to date and the key principles identified. Counter Context also developed the content for the sessions and moderated each event. Engagement was designed to stimulate constructive group discussion and feedback in a structured, step-by-step process to give transport planners a deeper understanding of points of support or challenge for the key principles, what constructive alternatives might exist and where priorities for investment lay across each group.

Outcome

The workshops and the methodology employed was welcomed by attendees as a constructive way to engage key stakeholder groups. Counter Context drew together a summary of feedback from the process into a final report. This informed the political approval process in 2020 for the next stage of work on the Manchester City Centre Transport Strategy and the development of new transport initiatives in the city centre.