One of the consistent factors for us as the affected local residents who live in and around the Garrison as this project slowly moves forward is that we all have to deal with meeting professionals working on the project at public meetings. We’ve had a lot with professional politicians, we have also had meetings with various professionals employed by the council, professionals working for the various members of the landowner consortia including the MoD. We know for many residents this can be a frustrating experience, and that often they feel that such meetings are just a box ticking exercise to meet some criteria for stakeholder consultation, or that those running the meetings are being evasive or misleading, or just don’t want to tell us the truth.
With that in mind it was interesting to come across a blog posted by Jane Northcote, an independent management consultant specialising in business change who lives in the Barbican in London.
As you may or may not know, there is currently a major project going on in London providing a major east/west railway line under the capital – the Crossrail Project. The majority of the line is underground, and currently a number of machines are digging the twin tunnels under the city, and those machines are due to go directly under the tower blocks of the Barbican where Jane lives. Not surprisingly the residents are concerned about what the effects might be, so Crossrail are running a series of meetings for residents to say what is going on. You can read what Jane said about the meeting she attended here.
What she presents is an eight point checklist of how to handle a meeting with stakeholders, with some key points that hopefully more people handling big projects will take on board:
They brought the real people: Bill Tucker, the Central Area Director, and Mike Black, Head of Geotechnics, together with other specialists. These are not PR people, they are real operational people who could answer our questions and take responsibility.
They gave us facts and figures. They did not disguise or play down the fact that there would be settlement. It will be less than 5mm in most places. They put these figures in context for us. A 5mm settlement possibly produces hairline cracks, no more.
They did not patronise us. The Head of Geotechnics used technical terms, which he explained. He showed us graphs, detailed maps, and measurements.
They showed us a lot of pictures, including pictures of the other parts of London under which the Tunnel Boring Machines have burrowed without incident. Some of these places are bricks-and-mortar churches in the West End. We are concrete. We could see we were going to be OK.
They took responsibility. This was quite remarkable. They did not belittle anyone’s concerns. They will do surveys of every flat, to see what cracks exist now. There are quite a few cracks in our flat. This is the baseline. Then we, and they, can know if the tunnelling has made a new crack. They undertake to repair all damage they make. They have a budget for this. They described the clear process for handling concerns and for taking action on reports of damage, noise or vibration.
They gave plain-language, unequivocal undertakings. The noise levels they produce are measured at the surface. These noise levels will not exceed 25DB. 25DB is the noise level you hear “on a Sunday in Hyde Park”. They explained the monitoring systems. They told us the number to call if we hear noise. They also explained that at 40m down, in London clay, it is most unlikely we will hear anything, and that nobody else had done so.
They answered every question directly. They answered the exact question as posed, unlike politicians. They were not at all defensive. Will monitoring devices be stuck to our listed buildings? Yes they will. Will the fastenings of the monitoring devices damage our listed buildings? Yes maybe, and Crossrail will restore our much-loved concrete to its former state afterwards.
They told us where to go to find more information. They also undertook to come back and see us again on a specific date. The entire event was videoed, and will be on our community website. Crossrail itself has a detailed website with updated information on progress, and descriptions of the project from a number of aspects.
Communicating with the Public
One of the consistent factors for us as the affected local residents who live in and around the Garrison as this project slowly moves forward is that we all have to deal with meeting professionals working on the project at public meetings. We’ve had a lot with professional politicians, we have also had meetings with various professionals employed by the council, professionals working for the various members of the landowner consortia including the MoD. We know for many residents this can be a frustrating experience, and that often they feel that such meetings are just a box ticking exercise to meet some criteria for stakeholder consultation, or that those running the meetings are being evasive or misleading, or just don’t want to tell us the truth.
With that in mind it was interesting to come across a blog posted by Jane Northcote, an independent management consultant specialising in business change who lives in the Barbican in London.
As you may or may not know, there is currently a major project going on in London providing a major east/west railway line under the capital – the Crossrail Project. The majority of the line is underground, and currently a number of machines are digging the twin tunnels under the city, and those machines are due to go directly under the tower blocks of the Barbican where Jane lives. Not surprisingly the residents are concerned about what the effects might be, so Crossrail are running a series of meetings for residents to say what is going on. You can read what Jane said about the meeting she attended here.
What she presents is an eight point checklist of how to handle a meeting with stakeholders, with some key points that hopefully more people handling big projects will take on board:
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