Project Evaluation - Stakeholder Consultation

As part of the 1YA Evaluation, an extensive consultation with key stakeholders has been undertaken to gauge views regarding the impacts of the project across a range of areas. This centred mainly around a tailored online questionnaire seeking the views of relevant public and private sector stakeholders. The questionnaire posed a wide range of questions, focussing on specific areas such as the project’s impact on reducing delays and congestion, the impact on the local and regional economy and any issues observed during the project’s construction phase. The key stakeholders consulted can be categorised as follows:

Local Authorities
- Planning Officers
- Road Strategy and Safety Officers
- Enterprise Development Officers
- Environmental Health Officers
- Roads Officers
Community Councils

Comments from relevant stakeholders were sought through March 2020. A record of the stakeholders consulted as part of the 1YA Evaluation is presented in Appendix B.

In summary, similar to the business surveys undertaken to support the 1YA Evaluation, the response rate to the stakeholder consultation is low, with only 2 of 84 stakeholders consulted responding to the online survey – a response rate of just over 2%. Responses were received from SRP and a single Community Council. It is judged that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic occurring at the time of the stakeholder consultation is likely to have significantly impacted the response rate, with restrictions placed on business activities, public gatherings and, more widely, general daily activities.

As such, it is likely that several of the organisations consulted, particularly the emergency services, are unlikely to have had a suitable opportunity to fully consider and respond to the online survey. As a result, in order to gauge the views of key stakeholders regarding the impacts of the project, a further stakeholder consultation will be undertaken as part of a subsequent 3YA and / or 5YA Evaluation for the project.

Stakeholder Consultation: Key Findings

The response rate of around 2% to the stakeholder consultation undertaken at the time of the 1YA Evaluation is particularly low. It is considered that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, occurring at the time of the stakeholder, is likely to have significantly impacted the response rate. As such, it may be difficult to draw any firm conclusions regarding the views of stakeholders regarding the project’s actual and perceived impacts within the wider study area.

In order to gauge the views of key stakeholders regarding the impacts of the project, a further stakeholder consultation will be undertaken as part of a subsequent 3YA and / or 5YA Evaluation for the project.

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