Stakeholder engagement is typically seen as the process of supporting people affected by construction projects. At its most effective, however, stakeholder engagement can be a pathway not just to better project delivery, but also better infrastructure.
Effective stakeholder engagement requires an ongoing dialogue between the project team and people from the community in which the team is delivering transport infrastructure. As a result some of the most valuable feedback is from people who travel on or interact with that infrastructure. Soliciting this feedback helps Octavius understand what is important to people and, where practical, to incorporate that in the design phase. Through effective knowledge management these insights can be shared across projects, enriching the end-product delivered for customers. See the ‘Using engagement to enrich design’ boxes for more details about this.
Creating customer certainty
Customers’ stakeholder engagement priorities differ. National customers such as Network Rail and National Highways have more standardised approaches across all projects, delivered through the prism of local need. There is less commonality, however, between the needs of combined authorities and local authorities, so the approach to stakeholder engagement needs to be customised accordingly.
Although customer priorities are not homogenous, Octavius always delivers stakeholder engagement to the same standard – giving customers greater certainty over outcomes. Having nation-wide reach means Octavius is able to identify best practice from across the country and implement it for regional clients such as combined and local authorities. National Highways has the most demanding approach to stakeholder engagement, so that is the standard Octavius has chosen to adopt across all projects. Implementing this requires mature, robust processes, which in turn result in consistent, repeatable outcomes.
Octavius settled upon this gold standard because leaving a positive legacy in the communities in which the company works is core to its DNA. This commitment is further evidenced by the company’s goal of creating social value equivalent to 30 percent of turnover. If stakeholder engagement is the process through which delivery teams learn about communities’ needs and priorities, creating social value is one of the routes through which the company can meet those needs; making the two closely inter-related.
For combined and local authority projects, especially, leading-edge stakeholder engagement and a demonstrably strong social value performance is vital as the delivery partner is working cheek by jowl with the most important people in the customer’s life – the communities they represent.
The value of early engagement
Much as early contractor involvement is recognised as a pathway to better project outcomes, early stakeholder engagement results in better outcomes for those affected by transport infrastructure projects. Ideally this starts at the bid stage, with stakeholder mapping and other desk-based research encompassing public consultations, social listening and online feedback.
This means that, at award, the stakeholder engagement team is on the front foot and ready to begin planning and implementing contact with the residents, landowners, businesses and others the project will touch.
Broadly, the aim is to take stakeholders on the project journey, explaining the need the project will meet, how that will be achieved, how they will be affected, and the measures in place to minimise impact. In order to manage expectations honesty is vital. It is also important to give the project a face, someone who will become familiar to stakeholders, a person they know they can contact if they need to. Establishing clear and open routes of communication is key here.
Octavius prizes the value local knowledge brings and, where possible, seeks to bring local talent into the stakeholder engagement team. Local hires bring with them understanding of the area and people affected by the project: not just how the streets are laid out, but how people use them for example. Insights into demographics, geography, and even local colloquialisms all make for better engagement. Additionally, recruiting locally contributes to Octavius’ social value goals and the local economy.
These contemporary projects show in practice the effectiveness of Octavius approach to stakeholder engagement. The links provide much greater detail:
- Manchester Victoria North East Gateway: Extending infrastructure for the Bee Network, in multiple busy city centre locations
- Stoneleigh Station Access for All: Local knowledge and established relationships were key to efficient delivery
- March town centre revitalisation: Incorporating local business’ needs into planning and methodology to ensure ‘business as usual’
Using engagement to enrich design
A46 Walsgrave junction upgrade – Introducing safer crossings: During scheme development feedback highlighted concerns about pedestrians crossing the B4082, including school-aged children and other vulnerable users. As a result Octavius introduced a previously unplanned signalised crossing point. In addition to providing safer, controlled crossing, the new crossing also supports the wider objective of maintaining and improving connectivity between local residential areas, community facilities and services as part of the junction improvements.
Enabling local farmers: Following stakeholder engagement a proposed farm access road was realigned closer to existing buildings, reducing travel distances between the farmstead, accommodation bridge and farmland. The scheme was also amended to retain the existing accommodation overbridge and remove a proposed haul road around the farm buildings, reducing operational impacts on the farming business.
Using engagement to enrich design
Long Stratton bypass – A residential driveway entered directly onto the A140 carriageway, close to the new roundabout. During resurfacing the carriageway level was raised, resulting in a significantly steeper driveway and tight turn onto the road. Following feedback from the resident, Octavius worked closely with the customer to redesign and improve the access. We extended and regraded the driveway surface to reduce the incline, painted a ‘Keep Clear’ box on the carriageway to maintain safe visibility and access, and shortened the adjoining footpath to widen the driveway entrance.
Using engagement to enrich design
Charfield Station newbuild – Navigating the planning process involved extensive consultation and revisions to meet both technical and community requirements. Initial concerns from residents were addressed through transparent communication and adjustments to the scheme design.
Using engagement to enrich design
A1331 Link Road Phase One – Engagement with landowners enabled a number of new measures, to minimise disruption to the landowners’ farming and other commercial activities, being incorporated into the project’s scope. These included several temporary culvert crossings under the construction site affording undisrupted access to farmland. Similarly, construction of a new concrete track to maintain access to commercial properties and farmland was incorporated into the early works.
We hope you found this helpful, here is some more information you might find valuable:
- Octavius is quietly building its own northern powerhouse
- New housing developments embrace multi-modal connectivity
- Integration through devolution: Our response to the government’s Integrated Transport Strategy
- Transport unlocks everything: Combined authorities’ goals for transformative regional transport
Talk to us
Contact us at transformative@octavius.co.uk if you want to know more about the way in which we can support combined authorities’ transport strategies.