Project Management

Effective project management is essential to ensuring that the preparation of waste and minerals local minerals or waster management plans stays on track. BPP Consultancy’s project management support includes the following:

1. Preparation and maintenance of a project plan which involves the following:
   • Identifying workstreams, key tasks associated with those workstreams, and their dependencies.
   • Estimating how long each task will take, allocating appropriate resources and setting deadlines.
2. Assessing risks to the project and identifying appropriate mitigations in discussion with the client. This may include preparation of a risk register.
3. Regular communications with the project team.
4. Monitoring progress and updating task lists and the project plan
5. Advising on, and implementing, corrective actions to keep the project on track.

Project Board updates are usually a key part of project management; we have experience in arranging these and taking account of the fact that members are senior officers with many other demands of their time.

Consultation on waste and minerals plans

For minerals and waste localmanagement plans, BPP Consulting’s approach is designed to ensure compliance with the publicity and consultation requirements of the legislation associated with the production of local plans. We also ensure that any programme of consultation is consistent with the client’s ‘Statement of Community Involvement’.

Consultation programmes will consider the following:

• Any previous stakeholder mapping, audience identification and consultation;
• Favoured ‘tried and tested’ approaches;
• Existing communication channels;
• Related local communication protocols.

Waste and Minerals Local Plan Consultation programmes generally include the following:

• Why a plan is being developed and what this means for stakeholders and the community;
• The key objectives and the goals of engagement and consultation;
• How the consultation approach will meet the needs of the local community and stakeholders;
• Who will be consulted, identifying the key community and statutory stakeholders;
• When consultation will take place and what communities/ stakeholders can expect;
• The activities and approaches which will be used to communicate and consult with all those likely to have an interest in the plan, including traditional and social media, so they have the opportunity to become involved in the process and provide comment; and
• Opportunities for submitting a representation and how comments received will be taken into consideration.

Duty to Cooperate

The ‘Duty to Cooperate’ places additional requirements on plan making authorities and BPP Consulting have extensive experience of advising local authorities to ensure compliance with this duty. Our approach to ensuring compliance with the Duty to Cooperate involves identifying relevant strategic matters and then initiating a programme of on-going meaningful engagement with relevant stakeholders.

We can undertake and facilitate Representor liaison and negotiation with representors on Plans and planning applications. We have direct experience of preparing Statements of Common Ground and Memoranda of Understanding between planning authorities and other interested parties. We can develop Memoranda of Understanding to clearly describe the plan-making process, timetable, objectives and evidence base and set out the agreed undertakings for each party to ensure that the Duty to Cooperate is met.

Sustainability Appraisals (SA) of local plans are a legal requirement and therefore a matter to be addressed with particular care. Sustainability Appraisals of a local plan should be carried out by a team which is unbiased and independent; it is therefore recommended that this task be completed by experienced SA practitioners who are not part of the plan-making team. We can project manage the SA process in its entirety, making technical contributions to chapters and sections, or provide critical review of SAs. However, if BPP Consulting has been involved in the preparation of the plan, it may not able to undertake the SA itself but can nonetheless supervise the process. Indeed the supervision of consultants is something all members of the BPP Consulting project team are familiar with. In doing this, we utilise our experience of preparing and commissioning technical assessments (associated with waste and minerals local plans) to ensure that outputs are fit for purpose. Our internal quality assurance process also means that we are well practised in reviewing and supervising the preparation of technical papers.