This week saw our third successful result for planning applications on which we’ve provided PR and Marketing services, giving us a 100% record of approval so far.

This clean sweep culminated in North Tyneside Council’s Planning Committee voting in favour of a new low-density residential development in Longbenton and a new access road leading to the site where the homes will be built.

With the need for new homes so high on both a regional and national basis, it might be difficult to imagine why the result of this application would ever be in doubt, but planning applications can be contentious for any number of reasons; people might disagree with what’s being built, why it’s being built or most commonly, where it is being built.

Generally speaking land and property developers work with a host of highly qualified professionals to ensure that whatever it is they’re planning to build is done so in the best interests of the local community and the area in which they’re building, however as with any industry, poor communication often leads to misunderstanding and mistrust in new developments – and that’s where we come in.

Our experience in the construction and housing sector spans nearly 15 years. Over this time we’ve supported the marketing activity of various clients including Galliford Try, Cumbrian Homes, and Washington Developments, amongst others.

Throughout this period we’ve had the pleasure of working alongside a lot of the highly qualified professionals hired by developers to ensure that their developments cover all bases and meet the requirements set by the local authorities.

It was thanks to one of our partners in the planning sector that we were first asked to provide marketing and communications support to a planning application for a multi million pound, mixed use development comprising new homes, a hotel and golf club refurbishment at Woodham Golf and County Club in Newton Aycliffe back in 2011.

Without going into specific detail, people didn’t want the plans to be approved because they believed there was no use for a new hotel, and that a build of any kind would ruin views of the green area near existing homes.

Ultimately, the developer’s objective for this and every other application we’ve supported has been for the plans for their site to be well received in and around the local community throughout the consultation process and up to the determination of the proposal.

As an agency our job is to communicate to the local community and authority the plans for the site and it’s future development - addressing apparent concerns - through the implementation of various marketing activities across multiple media platforms.

So far this has included liaising with the Planning Committees of the relevant councils, producing and distributing informative leaflets on the developments, running PR campaigns with stories reflecting various elements of the benefits with the plans, creating microsites, managing events and producing marketing materials for public consultations, as well as contributing and monitoring social media and finally reporting the outcome of the combined campaign.

Over the past three years we’ve become passionate about PR and marketing in this context and we’re pleased to have further strengthened the relationships within the sector that introduced us to the process to begin with. As an agency we’ve developed a skill and strategy to ensure that planning applications are communicated thoroughly and transparently to the people that they’ll affect, creating a trusting relationship between both councillors and the community with the planners developing sites and therefore generating support for the proposals in question.

If you’d like to know more about how we can improve your chances of success with your planning application, talk to us .