Comments made by participants at community planning training events led by Nick Wates.
From feedback forms completed on the day or sent in later. In date order, most recent first.
‘A great event and walk to open our eyes. As a local resident I was inspired by the excellent suggestions to improve the transport modes and develop activities to help the locals improve their quality of life. Transport engineers input was very good – streets not roads.’
‘Interesting content and organisation. Liked the personal attention.’
‘Really interesting approach. Involving local people worked really well and really brought the issues to life. I gained a lot from it.’
‘Innovative methodology – to develop a plan from the participation point of view.’
‘A stimulating exercise. Good group participation.’
‘A very good way of engaging different individuals from various cultural backgrounds.’
‘Good fun. The walkabout was great.’
‘Would like to see it tried by many groups in the city: residents, councillors, city officers….’
‘Timely and useful topic with good exercises’
‘Workshop session very useful and interesting’
‘Good presentation and brainstorming of issues’
‘Important topic to cover at this time’
‘Clear and concise’
‘Engaging’
‘Thought provoking’
‘Up to date’
‘Practical’
‘Useful and interactive session.’
‘Good to be able to work on real issue based projects. Good variety of participants.’
‘Was very useful in expanding my understanding of how consultation applies in development of major projects.’
‘Very useful to get thinking about consultation techniques and highlighted some new ideas that will be practical to use.’
‘Liked the format. Class gave positive impulse to be creative about future involvement processes.’
‘Good collaboration – very “hands on”; great lunch; nice place; nice people.’
‘Really good day – everyone should attend.’
‘Good learning environment (friendly) – learned more than I expected – structured event (mock up) really useful – made it much more real.’
‘Good structure. Interactive approach was useful.’
‘Pace of the training session ideal. Informative.’
‘Very helpful. Great to meet new people and share thinking.’
‘Great mix of people. Learning outcomes brilliant.’
‘Brilliantly assistive and timely’
‘Great diversity of delegates & scenarios. Excellent lunch. Using real scenarios in pm. was helpful. Actual workshop (Bexhill) was very relevant to UK practice.’
‘Brilliant scenario based workshops – enjoyed that it was based on real, current issues faced by the participants.’
‘Empowering, inclusive.’
‘Stimulating, informative, entertaining, informality.’
‘Format, collective diversity of delegates, lunch/refreshments were all excellent.’
‘Good venue, very real examples that brought the issues alive.’
‘Well organised workshop, useful information, informative grounded discussion gathered from various experience.’
‘Good mix of people, real case studies, pooling of different expertise/ideas.’
‘Fantastic mix of people, lots to learn and take away.’
‘Good size of group, good to start with activity (mock up), and Bexhill worked case study very useful. Discussion with others very useful. Examples of methods useful.’
‘Good to meet and talk with others. Good for organising planning meetings and plans rollout.
‘Very useful to see drop in (will steal idea!) and very good presentation – good ideas and structured approach.’
‘Very useful information. Very friendly and clear presentations. Well organised workshop and excellent location / catering.’
‘Very useful workshop, very interesting and broad, varied mix of participants.’
‘Wide range of participants with different experience, good for knowledge sharing. Simple module but very significant.’
‘Well presented, good venue, good other delegates – interesting different perspectives.’
‘Good venue and facilities, wide spread of attendees with different experiences, good interactions.’
‘Nice to have practical go at scenario.’
‘Great opportunity to talk and exchange experiences.’
‘Presentation of different methods of engagement useful.’
‘Very good for what I was looking for.’
Owain Jones, Keep Wales Tidy
‘Made me think! Gave an insight into the various methods and strategies that can be used to encourage community involvement’
CEN officer, Groundwork Caerphilly
‘Good summary of engagement practices.’
R Thomas, Sustainable Wales
‘Covered the area (consultation) that I sought guidance on’.
Mike Duxbury, Blaenllechau Community Regeneration
‘Brilliant day. Very positive way of thinking.’
Janice Cardwell, Maidstone Reference Library
‘Very helpful re preparing a Parish Plan. Thank you very much.’
Ann Rollinson, Chart Sutton, Kent
‘Very interesting and informative day – really good to hear local success stories!’
Mrs Sandra Clayton, Chart Sutton, Kent.
‘Very informative. A lot of ideas to work on and take away for future.’
Anon
‘Great inspiration for thinking ‘outside the box’.’
Sue Minter, Planning Coordinator, Department of Housing, Vermont
‘Good to hear these ideas from someone that believes in them and has seen them work.’
Anon
‘Good presentation and workshop.’
Anon
‘Good balance of presentation and interactive discussions.’
Patrick Oltad, Vermont
‘I loved the opportunities for people to comment and share their experiences – very worthwhile. Great to hear about the perspective from another country.’
Anon
‘Good knowledgeable speaker, important topic.’
Brian Robertson, Montpelier, Vermont
‘Good format of getting working groups together.’
Anon
‘Good information. Good process.’
Anon
‘Nick’s materials are great. Good innovative method ideas.’
Chip Sawyer, Centre for Rural Studies, Vermont
‘Great information – very applicable to my work. I definitely found things I will use.’
Anon
‘It was great hearing other people’s experiences and doing the exercise together.’
Joseph O’Reilly
‘Very useful to meet ‘consulters’ from different fields and areas.’
Anon
‘Covered vast amount of ground. Good presentations.’
Anon
‘Good person-centred approach. Good use of collective knowledge.’
Pete Murphy
‘Good to get views and approach to community planning from other organisations.’
Helen Hudson, Hart District Council, Hampshire.
‘Useful discussion with seminar members. Good networking.’
R Harris
‘‘Very lively, interactive and creative.’
June Cannon, Waterloo Community Development Group, London
‘Brilliant, informal, interactive atmosphere. Good mix of people, with the same commitment, participating. Well organised.’
Hulya Mustafa, Head of Best Value in Housing, DETR, London
‘Very friendly and relaxed.’
Deborah Aplin, Land Director, The Berkeley Group plc, Surrey
‘Well organised in a way that promoted shared knowledge.’
Roger James, Secretary, The Portsmouth Society, Hampshire
‘Excellent’
Sian Phillips, Team Leader Policy and Research, Sevenoaks District Council
‘Very useful in terms of focusing on practical examples of one’s own work which needed addressing, clarification and sharing.’
Rachel Pepper, Acton Vale Community Centre, London
‘Lively discussion, good format and content.’
Anna Nikk, Research Officer, Martin Caldwell Associates
‘Very stimulating – the group work was particularly enjoyable and informative.’
Simon Thompson, Dorset Community Action