How do you take on a council determined to ride roughshod over the very people who put them in power?
Well, yes....you can wait for the next election but that’s a while off.
It's a very relevant question as we watch Affinity Sutton spending hundreds of thousands of pounds to thwart the wishes of RBK&C residents.
The Dame rarely ‘plugs’ paid services but when they are good value and are super effective she feels no shame in doing so.
Many of you will remember the Canadian billionaire who tried to dig out a mega basement under his 12 bedroom mansion in Walton Street.
It looked very much as if the planning department and planning committee would have allowed it to go through; after all, the planning officers were, to put it politely, very friendly with the applicant!
Had consent be given there would have been months of disruption to residents and a horrendous impact on already hard pressed local business.
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PARGE: BEAT OFF THE COUNCIL
AND BASEMENT DIGGER |
Residents and local business were desperate. The question was how to rapidly build an overwhelming opposition that would shake up officers and councillors.
The residents called in Julian Parge of #SHIELD.
Quickly and very inexpensively, Julian devised a total strategy encompassing...
- The design of a traffic map showing all of the affected roads.
- The design, copywriting and print of 1,000 flyers.
- The design and development of a single-page website which simplified the process of objecting and immediately submitted all objections to the Planning Dept point of contact.
Within days, the Council received over 260 objections from residents within a one-mile radius of the application.
In the face of such vehement public reaction, the planning dept kicked the application into the long grass and sided with residents
This is what Parge had to say:
“I'm really pleased that #SHIELD was able to help the local residents and businesses. (Having lived in the area for some time,) I am fully aware of the impact that these kinds of developments can have on the neighbourhood and I am completely behind opposing something that was seemingly just the whim of an arrogant and greedy man.
Most of us at some point in life will have a battle on our hands, be it against corporate incompetence, reputation risk or local planning applications: this is where #SHIELD steps in. We have very specific strategies in place to protect our clients best interests and our focus is on pushing the right buttons in the right order. 9 times out of 10, this doesn't fail.
Of course, we can't guarantee success every time, but our pricing is set up in such a way that clients pay an admin fee and a success fee. No success means no additional fee. It's definitely worth a shot.”
And this is what a local businessman driving the campaign said:
“Our business was faced with a local issue in Knightsbridge which seriously threatened its future. We needed to publicise a host of legal issues in an effective manner whilst simultaneously gathering support from residents, shops and commerce in the area. Time was short and deadlines loomed. Enter #SHIELD.
Under the guidance of Julian Parge a new web site was created, a blog initiated and leaflets printed for distribution. Within a few days our arguments took centre ground and opinions changed. We won a battle when the odds were stacked against us.
Without #SHIELD we may have lost. We cannot recommend them highly enough.”
Philip Stallibrass – Director, White Room, Walton Street
You can get in touch with Julian here LINK
