Petra Biberbach: Public involvement in planning is a constructive leap forward

DESPITE some arguing that community involvement in the planning system is a hindrance, in reality including people is very good for business.

Providing information to the community and tapping into the knowledge of local people at the very earliest stages can speed up the process and ensure a smooth delivery. Delays caused by multiple objections, lengthy public inquiries and legal challenges means increased costs to developers.

But it's not just about consulting to avoid disputes. Involving local people can be positively embraced in order to make improvements to a development.

Ask yourself: who has the intelligence about what fits best in the local community and what works? Who will be the customers using and benefiting from the development? Who can give you a fresh perspective and new ideas when you're bogged down in the details? By listening to people, your project can be improved and delivered more efficiently and perhaps increase your profit margin.

Picture the scene: a developer wants to plant a factory right beside a village. The story would be: "Villagers launch campaign against new factory". As the local media join in the campaign, the expensive PR arm of the developer swings into action, the whole thing gets messy, the plans are caught up in controversy, the firm suffers and local councillors, conscious of their electorate, reject the planning application.

As the biggest reform to Scotland's planning system for 60 years sinks in, these scenes should become a thing of the past and developers can reap the rewards. The new system was designed so that all people can get their views heard and community consultation for certain planning applications is now mandatory.

National and major projects require the applicant to conduct one public event, to be advertised in the local press. This could be viewed as another tick-box exercise, but there are many examples of developers taking an enlightened approach, doing more than the minimum requirement.

Would it be possible to knock on doors and ask people what they think? What about consulting young people? Or, at the very least, thinking about times and places that will allow the maximum number of people from different backgrounds to attend.

Those businesses that see engagement with the local community as a positive process, that understand it is in their interests to be open and inclusive from the start, will be the ones that ultimately gain the respect of people – if not always their full support – and ensure their development happens.

Planning can be controversial and highly emotive. A dispute between neighbours about a house extension can escalate into a negative and stressful experience for all. Indeed, big developments – from the Beauly-Denny power line to the Forth road crossing and Donald Trump's golfing project – affect the lives of millions of people across Scotland. Planning isn't dull, in fact it's plastered all over the media on a daily basis.

The purpose of Planning Aid for Scotland is not to campaign on behalf of any interest group, to take sides, or to judge individual developments. Our aim is to facilitate dialogue, inform, enable and empower people to engage with planning for themselves.

We also play a central role in making sure that those who are not currently involved in the planning process are heard and listened to. Our advice and training programmes and SP>EED (our toolkit for designing and assessing community consultation), can give developers the knowledge about how to operate and implement good engagement with the local community.

In a fragile economy and with uncertain public-sector finances, it can be easy to see involving people as a burden – but now is exactly the time to work together.

Planning is about supporting sustainable economic growth and tackling climate change and allowing developers the freedom to do business. But this happens only by involving people, those customers and inheritors of the new places you create, and making sure we're shaping a Scotland in everyone's interests.

• Petra Biberbach is chief executive of Planning Aid for Scotland, a charity working to include people in the planning system.