Yes folks we are in danger of succumbing to serious, and I mean serious, fatigue!
There is now so much information!
Large numbers of major planning applications are to be considered in the area - with one major application being resubmitted with a fresh consultation; planning appeals on major developments; the forthcoming consultation on the new Highland-wide Local Development Plan - all within the context of the bedding down of the new Scottish Planning Act.
It has become necessary to consider how we use our limited resources and one solution may be to discontinue the blog. It may be that a blog of this kind is not an effective way of engaging with large numbers of members of the public, and will only generate 'specialist' interest.
We have recently prepared a large postal mailing to all Chairpersons and Secretaries of Community Councils across Highland which will be followed by a mailing to our Elected Members and then our MP / MSPs. The mailing is to enocourage maximum interest in the HwLDP consultation from the public's perspective. The availability of the blog has been noted on this mailing and it is hoped that further interest will be generated.
So far we have 205 visitors from 8 countries to this blog with 5 followers. To put this into perspective; my teenage daughter's blog receives approximately 186 visitors from 17 countries with 18 followers.
What you think?
Knowledge gives us the power to present our views objectively and informatively. Are we in information overload at a time when we need to become more knowledgeable?
It took the Gurn nearly 3 years to really get going. Perhaps you could limit the output a little and include the address in your literature as another means of drawing attention to the blog. Recently we got all .comed up on the Gurn. An easy process, if you had a distinctive address afpt.org or something similar that was available then that would be fine on all correspondence, posters, t-shirts etc if the APT is going to be around for the long haul.
ReplyDeleteOn your post as to whether to continue with the APT blog, as a matter of interest I investigated a similar blog - the Highland wide Local Development Plan blog, run by Highland Council’s Development Plans Team. They have 4 followers, and have posted 74 times since they began their blog in June.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, of the 74 posts on the Highland wide Local Development Plan blog, only one has attracted a comment. This was a post concerning the attendance at a Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Localsh Ward Forum to discuss the above Development Plan. Here it is:
"Tim attended the forum to discuss the Highland wide Local Development Plan. Around 35 people attended, including Councillors Greene, Urquhart, Campbell and Sinclair. Some of the issues raised were the need for more town centre retail developments, siting and design of housing in the countryside, and the need for more flexible local policies for particular settlements."
The response, from an attendee I assume, although it is signed anonymously:
"I don't remember anything about the need for more town centre developments. Also, not so much a discussion, more a lecture."
There is no response to this rather negative comment.
Comparison with the Action for Planning Transparency blog: 5 followers and 122 Posts since June. In response to these 122 posts, in the region of 40 comments have been made.
This certainly indicates that a high degree of publicity and promotion is required to encourage people to interact with the planning process, both from what might be termed “professional" and “lay” organisations. It requires real dedication to keep a blog running and up-to date with the latest information, especially for such a complex and far-reaching subject as planning. However, it is noteworthy that, from the statistics, the APT blog has been rather more successful in stimulating debate on the planning process than the Highland Council blog, so don’t give up just yet!
Thank you both for taking the time to comment. I hadn't actually realised that so many comments had been made. An organisation such as ours can thrive thorugh the provision of feedback and the exercise of debate.
ReplyDeleteI will consider your comments carefully.
APTSec
One of the big dangers when starting to blog is to try and cover *everything*. The result is an unsustainable pace that can quickly lead to burn out. It's actually really common.
ReplyDeleteIn which case, if you look to cover only those items you feel are of most interest locally, then you can reduce the pace comfortably, while ensuring a strong signal-to-noise ratio.
Don't worry about stats, either - mynairn.com has only very limited traffic - but it receives more comments than any other site I run, and the highest traffic site I have is around a quarter million visitors per month.
Interest in Nairn and the surrounding area is always going to be a very niche topic area, covering a very niche bunch of readers. However, even with the small numbers, it's numbers that can spread the word, not least via other local blogs, residents, and offline chatter.
They say information is power, but the provision of information is often a thankless job, but often far more appreciated than realised.
Keep up the good work, don't burn yourself out, and hopefully we'll see the APT blog stay online. :)
- Brian, My Nairn
Many thanks Brian
ReplyDelete