Beyond the Tick Box: Community Engagement After Planning Reform
As the UK progresses towards Clean Power 2030 and the transition to net zero, much of 2025 and the early stages of 2026 have felt like an ongoing period of transformation, recalibration and heightened expectation for what lies ahead.
With NESO’s Grid Connection Reform Process providing greater certainty (in places) for ‘prioritised’ and ‘ready-to-build’ projects, and the Planning and Infrastructure Act (PIA) receiving Royal Assent, strong foundations have been laid for more streamlined practices. 2026 is now about delivery – and ensuring these ambitions can be met.
As communications professionals working in the built environment, our role is to ensure all voices are heard and, most importantly, that communities are not left behind.
Communities need to be taken on that journey
A key element of the PIA is the removal of the legal requirement for promoters of NSIPs to consult. This – alongside the removal of requirements to consult on preliminary environmental information – marks a clear departure from best‑practice methods that have been a mainstay since the Planning Act was established in 2008.
Since the Bill was first read in Parliament in March 2025, ambitions to speed up the process have raised questions from local councils, statutory bodies and community groups. Rather than seeing reform solely as a means to accelerate delivery, a balance must be struck between flexibility and the call for more meaningful consultation.
While more flexible engagement tailored to a project’s scale and local context will be increasingly important, the need to bring communities along on the development journey remains central to project success — as it has been for several years.
The key is when you engage and with what level of information
When working closely with developers on projects of any scale across the built environment, we always ask the same question: when will you have the appropriate level of technical information to consult on?
Consulting too early – as with insufficient detail – or too late – with little time to meaningfully influence proposals – are common scenarios and often where projects become complicated. At best, communities struggle to engage; at worst, trust is quickly lost.
Best‑practice guidance expected in spring 2026 presents an opportunity to provide clearer recommendations on when engagement should take place. This would place the onus on promoters to define which elements of a project are open to feedback, rather than presenting communities with an entire proposal and a wealth of technical information.
Engaging effectively at the right time, and setting clear parameters around what can and cannot be influenced, will continue to enable meaningful local participation in the planning process. With the PIA also referencing improved training for local authorities, decision‑makers – particularly at a local level – will be better equipped to assess applications beyond the volume of generalised objections often received.
Moving away (or not too far away) from a ‘tick-box’ exercise?
The NSIP regime under the 2008 Act has to date provided clear structure for developers to follow, but also for local stakeholders to feel part of and have clarity on how and when they can take part – from pre-application through to examination and decision.
Despite Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook’s reference to ‘consultation fatigue’, the industry should continue to question whether a wholesale move away from a perceived ‘tick‑box exercise’ truly benefits developers – particularly when promoters are seeking certainty and confidence that projects will be delivered.
Removing statutory requirements does not remove the expectation to consult. The onus now shifts to industry, and especially communications leaders, to truly understand stakeholder expectations and set the standard for what good engagement looks like in practice. Whether future guidance will keep pace with that challenge is an open question.
Flexibility, proportionality and bespoke engagement
‘Flexibility’ and ‘proportionality’ were among the most common buzzwords in the Government’s 2025 consultation on streamlining infrastructure planning, and how these principles will be realised in practice remains to be seen in 2026 and beyond.
From working closely with stakeholders at all levels, we know that project success depends on a clear understanding of what resonates locally. Too often, attempts to build consensus result in one‑size‑fits‑all engagement. Future success will depend on running multiple, targeted campaigns for distinct audiences, using tailored channels and messaging.
Major infrastructure projects unfold over years; not months. In a less prescribed and less legislated environment, successful delivery will rely on collaboration, critical thinking, and the ability to adapt as challenges emerge.
By Matthew Addy, Account Director for Energy and Utilities at Counter Context.