All change at the council – It’s time to engage

All change at the council – It’s time to engage

A wide range of organisations and individuals - including local residents, councillors, MPs, and Government departments - can all have role in influencing how communities develop to meet modern challenges, from how we generate energy to where we build our homes.

It is essential that landowners and developers, with a vital part to play in meeting those challenges, build and maintain good relationships with all stakeholders, including local authorities and their elected members. 

After the local elections of May 1st, when 1,600 seats across 23 county and unitary councils were contested, many of those councillors have changed. New faces representing different political parties and with different policies on land use have, in many cases, taken control.

The proportion of councils where elections were held represents just 10% of England’s total number of local authorities. But change is ongoing across all local government this month (May 2025) as councils hold their annual meetings, select their leaders, and decide who will sit on the all-important committees.

Whether landowners and developers are in an area where newly elected councillors are taking their seats for the first time, or where chairs and committee members are being appointed as part of the local government cycle, the message is the same: It is time to engage.

Andrew Howard, KOR Communications’ Senior Consultant in Public Affairs, sums it up. “The General Election, last July, and the local elections in May 2025 have demonstrated the volatility of the political landscape. Now is the perfect time for landowners, including rural estate owners with aspirations to develop their land for whatever purpose, to update their stakeholder map,” he says.

“Who among the councillors in their area do they need to engage with? Who are the local authority members likely to play the biggest part in helping to determine any future applications? Who is shaping policy that will have a material impact on the success or failure of future projects proposed by an estate, landowner or developer?”

Andrew says that answering those questions means gathering the information about who is serving the local authorities in their area. That should include councillors at the grassroots on parish and town councils, those on district planning authorities or unitary councils - who may directly determine applications - and those on other bodies with strategic planning responsibilities.

Professional PR and public affairs consultancies, like KOR Communications, can help clients identify stakeholders and provide support with how best to engage.

Consultancies must be well-versed and effective at building and maintaining stakeholder relations, navigating an evolving political landscape, and generating political and sector advocacy.

Wider engagement with local communities also remains essential - democratically elected representatives have a duty to reflect and respond to local views. So landowners and developers who have built strong relationships with their communities will reap the benefits.

It is impossible to ignore the political changes apparent from the election results. Reform UK made significant gains, taking control of 10 councils and two mayoralties with the election of 677 councillors, in addition to a historically marginal parliamentary by-election victory in Runcorn and Helsby.

Reform UK, which has a broad policy opposed to renewables, has already stated publicly that it will not support plans for solar farms, new electricity pylons or battery storage.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice told The Guardian: “We will attack, we will hinder, we will delay, we will obstruct, we will put every hurdle in your way. It’s going to cost you a fortune, and you’re not going to win. So give up and go away.”

That position should not stop landowners in areas where Reform UK councillors have significant influence from bringing forward proposals, however, or from engaging with their local representatives, whatever their political affiliation. 

Powerful arguments in favour of renewable energy projects can change even apparently entrenched mindsets. And while local authorities and regional mayors do exert significant influence on whether projects get the go-ahead - and under Labour's devolution plans, mayors will have a strengthened role in strategic planning and development - Government policy remains in favour of renewables.

The Liberal Democrats and The Green Party also made gains on May 1st. Their councillors will also bring their party’s policies to the table when considering proposals from landowners and developers - and may prove to be important allies on specific projects.

It should also be remembered that planning inspectors, if a developer or landowner appeals a refusal, make their decisions on planning grounds, not political arguments. If a developer has properly engaged with the community, including local residents, councillors and other elected representatives, and made a strong case for development, permission can still be granted.

In addition, larger solar farms generating more than 100 MW are classed as nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) and are determined by the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, rather than local planning authorities.

Most landowners, particularly those who have rural estates which have been in family ownership for many decades, will always want to pursue developments with the understanding and support of their communities wherever possible.

Those with the best chance of succeeding in that goal will have already established strong links with their communities; sharing information, receiving feedback, and keeping local people and their elected representatives informed of all that is going on. That doesn’t change, whoever is in charge of the local council.