Development Response Getting Started

As you develop your understanding of what your project will involve and how it might be delivered, be sure to also explore who is in the area – property owners, businesses, residents, users and others – and consider how they could be impacted by the work you’re leading. 

Also consider the context you’re operating in – what else is going on for that neighbourhood? What has council or others done (or not done) in the area in recent years? What other factors could influence how they might experience what you’re delivering?

A Community Impact Assessment (CIA), can help you capture these insights in a way that helps you, your team and your contractors to consider the best ways to work in that environment.

 Read the Guide to creating a CIA.

A constructability review helps ensure the design is practical, buildable and meets the project’s objectives. It is also an opportunity to consider potential community impacts and disruption, and to explore options around aspects like timing, phasing, methodologies, equipment and works duration, with the aim of reducing negative impacts.

Even if you’re not undertaking a formal constructability assessment, an informal review of your plans from a Development Response perspective could identify opportunities for improvement at this early stage.

At this point, you will have a good understanding of what impacts your project could have and can begin to plan your Development Response approach.

A Development Response plan captures how you have considered potential impacts, identified the types of disruption to eliminate or minimise, explored what else you might need to do to support a positive customer experience, and identifies what resources or expertise you might need to appropriately manage disruption and support the neighbourhood through your project.

The ideal time to begin drafting your project-specific Development Response plan is at the start of your procurement phase. Informed by your project plans, designs, constructability review and Community Impact Assessment, you’ll begin to outline how your plan for embedding Development Response into your project delivery plan.

The nature and scale of change you’re making will determine the level of disruption, and therefore the scale and breadth of development response effort needed.  The plan will support resourcing, budgeting, and expectation-setting going into the tendering process. Later, you can revisit the plan and update it as details evolve.

Consider what’s appropriate for your project across the seven Elements of Development Response.

See also an example Development Response Plan - Te Ha Noa

As you begin procurement, you have the opportunity to set the standards for customer experience and disruption mitigation for the delivery phase.

Through your Request for Tender (RFT) you can:

• set expectations that minimising impacts on the community is a priority
• establish consistent standards of customer experience and appropriate construction practice including code of conduct, site setup and appearance, fencing and hoardings, noise and vibration management and monitoring, dust, dirt and other debris, temporary lighting, water usage, rubbish management, and consideration of public and private events.
• request options which incorporate sympathetic methodologies.
• encourage innovation for better community outcomes.

You are encouraged to include these resources in your RFT, to help contractors understand what’s required and provide you the information you need to assess the capability and capacity of the contractor work in ways that minimise disruption:

• minimum customer experience standards set out in the Development Response Contractor Requirements document
• guidelines for Universal Access, Wayfinding and Signage, and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design to deliver a consistent, positive construction site experience
• your project’s Community Impact Assessment and a summary of any relevant insights from earlier community engagement (if available)
• request a draft Construction Disruption Mitigation Management Plan (CDMMP) as part of tender submissions, to help evaluate the tenderer’s understanding of the neighbourhood and how they’ve considered likely impacts in their proposed approach

You may also consider adding a link to the online Development Response toolkit, containing case studies, examples, and explainers.

You may also consider adding Development Response and/or customer experience aspects into your tender evaluation criteria and weighting, and the composition of your tender evaluation panel.

During your contract negotiation and onboarding processes, you should:

• include the Development Response Contractor Requirements within the contract terms and conditions
• work with the contractor to refine their phasing and methodology and finalise the Construction Disruption Mitigation Management Plan (CDMMP). Ensure the commitments made are embedded into your project structures and processes.

• Update your Community Impact Assessment - use it to support the induction of your construction team, getting them up to speed quickly on the needs and concerns of the neighbourhood.
• Refine your Development Response Plan - with a contractor selected, their approach and CDMMP accepted and likely impacts better understood, you can check back and update your Development Response Plan to check you have the right activities, resources, expertise and support you need.
• Set a culture of care for people in the neighbourhood – in pre-start meetings, project meetings and toolbox talks, set your expectations about how we’ll work together for a positive customer experience
• Communicate well from the outset – work with the contractor to help people clearly understand what you’ll be delivering, how you’ll be working, and how you’ve considered their needs and concerns, and how you’re committed to supporting them through change.

Development Response is not a one-time checklist – you and your team will need to keep checking back that your mitigations and approaches are having the intended effects, and to listen to feedback about the impacts you’re having on the neighbours. Likewise, the context you’re working in may change and contribute to new impacts for you to consider.

You may also like to consider scheduling regular site visits, audits and assessments to identify opportunities for continuous improvement, and sharing of lessons learned.