One of the most common complaints during community consultation is, “Why wasn’t I told about this❓”
Why wasn’t I told they were building apartments in my neighbourhood ❓
Why wasn’t I told my road was being closed❓
Why wasn’t I told that construction would happen at night❓
So why didn’t you tell them about this? Why didn’t they get the notification or newsletter about your project❓
Often, it’s because you didn’t get your distribution area right - it was just a circle you drew on the map and said: “That looks reasonable”.
But your project’s impacts won’t always move in circles. Traffic, noise, dust, and visual impacts often express themselves in more idiosyncratic shapes.
So you need to think hard about these impacts and who, apart from immediate neighbours, will feel them.
Here are some things for you to consider when working out your distribution area:
Do you have DA consent conditions that tell you who to notify about your project❓
Do you have noise mapping to tell you which construction noise will likely impact❓
Does your project have a traffic management expert who can tell you which streets will be hit hardest❓
Once you have this information, you can use Scopomap to plot out your distribution area carefully, and it will instantly calculate the number of addresses within this area, telling you how many are houses, apartments, or businesses. It will also give you important demographic information, like the most common languages spoken in the area, so you can work out if you need to translate your notification or newsletter.
Yes, complaints are inevitable, regardless of the effort you make.
But you can minimise those complaints by using a thoughtful approach to creating distribution areas.
And importantly, you can ensure your approach is reasonable and defensible, whether that’s to the community, council, politicians, or the media.
Try out Scopomap with our 30-day free trial (no credit card required).
