T3.5: Independent PPA Inception

A key part of the overall process is the ‘Inception’ stage, at which all project objectives, issues and expectations can be brought early to the table and discussed openly and transparently by the key project stakeholders. This would help to clarify areas of agreement and those issues that require resolution, thus informing how to take the project forward. This stage in essence defines the content of the final PPA and the collaborative process that will be adopted to take the project forward.

In ATLAS’s experience setting aside specific time for a formal inception meeting or workshop can assist greatly to bring the key decision makers together, focus minds, understand the positions of different project stakeholders and provide clarity to establish a potential scope of tasks collectively. As part of the Planning Delivery Agreement Pilot study all projects received an independently facilitated ‘inception day’. The feedback from participants was that this element was extremely beneficial as it enabled a transparent and unbiased review to occur across the full scope of issues involved and rapid progress to be made.

Independent facilitation at the inception stage is therefore promoted through the ATLAS guidance. A wide range of practitioners and consultants could perform the role of independent facilitator, and courses were run by the Planning Advisory Service & ATLAS in 2007 to provide initial training to a range of public and private sector individuals interested in offering their services in this regard (a list of those attending the training is available below). ATLAS has also produced some summary notes and guidance for facilitators, which is also available to download below.

To support the implementation of PPA’s CLG have asked ATLAS to support the delivery of ‘inception days’ to projects. ATLAS staff can take the role of independent facilitator, drawing upon the skills and knowledge of the team in promoting the PPA concept and its exposure to a wide range of large scale complex planning projects. This service is available nationwide, but only for those projects that meet the core terms of ATLAS engagement, namely projects must be large scale and contain a significant amount of residential (in excess of 500 units if residential only, or 200 plus if part of a major mixed use proposal).

If you are interested please call one of the telephone numbers below to speak to a member of ATLAS about your project and the purpose, content and value of an independently facilitated PPA inception day.