Key to the success of any public realm project is the involvement of local communities in the design and planning process. Buro Happold has extensive experience of public consultation on a wide range of international projects involving masterplanning, brownfield regeneration and transport infrastructure planning. Most of the consultations carried out by our Transport team are for local authorities on proposed new road schemes, multi-modal strategies and transport interchanges.

The consideration of sustainability factors is a fundamental part of our transport planning – our solutions are designed to enhance the lives of end-users, today and in the future, by improving the social, economic and environmental well-being of the area in which they live. Mobility is clearly a vital element in enhancing people’s ‘quality of life’, as well as boosting commercial potential, and we recognise that thorough consultation results in better outcomes and increased public ownership.

All our local transport schemes aim to optimise cost and operational efficiency while causing minimal disruption to the surrounding community. Our collaborative, inclusive approach involves bringing local people and stakeholders into the planning loop from the outset to draw out responses and encourage dialogue. In this way we ensure that people’s interests, priorities and concerns are reflected in the various physical and environmental elements of the project. 

We use a number of methodologies including public consultation events and exhibitions, walk and talks, focus groups and in-depth stakeholder interviews. We try and make these as stimulating as possible to engage a wide cross-section of people, especially ‘hard to reach’ groups. Taking the opportunity to explain why infrastructure improvements are being made, and listening to any issues people may have, can result in less formal objections being made during the statutory consultation phase.