» Monthly Archives: May 2011

Cameron’s father-in-law loses UK battle to halt abattoir
Local planners have dismissed arguments from Sir Reginald Sheffield, father-in-law of British Prime Minister David Cameron that smells and noise from a proposed abattoir nearby would deter tourists from his stately home. The scheme to convert the former pig-rearing unit enjoyed the backing of local farmers and the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (Aims), which ...
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Strategic Communications Part 12: Generating Buzz about Your Project
(This is the 12th in a continuing series on strategic communications. Click here for earlier segments)By Owen Eagan, The Saint Consulting Group What is buzz?  According to Emmanuel Rosen, the author of The Anatomy of Buzz, buzz is simply person-to-person communication about a brand.  But, obviously, buzz pertains to communication about any issue including your development ...
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Strategic Communications Part 11: The ROI on Direct Mail
(This is the 11th in a continuing series on strategic communications. Click here for earlier segments) By Owen Eagan, The Saint Consulting Group Despite the popularity of social media and email, direct mail still remains an extremely effective form of communication.  In fact, a strong case can be made that direct mail may even be more effective as ...
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Strategic Communications Part 10: “People Like to Be Asked”
(This is the 10th in a continuing series on strategic communications. Click here for earlier segments) By Owen Eagan, The Saint Consulting Group As Tip O’Neill learned from one of his neighbors after taking her vote for granted and losing his first election, “People like to be asked.”  Even though Tip had known this neighbor for years and ...
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Proactive Approach Pays Dividends in Linear Land Use Projects
Tell everyone about your project early and often By Bryan Mills, Division Manager, The Saint Consulting Group The recent discussion concerning linear land use projects, originally introduced by Mike Saint in March, highlighted one overarching theme:  with linear land use projects, a proactive approach works better. Yet, despite the controversy these types of proposals engender ...
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Strategic Communications Part 9: Don’t Let the Mob Rule
(This is the ninth in a continuing series on strategic communications. Click here for earlier segments) By Owen Eagan, The Saint Consulting Group When it comes to hosting events to introduce your development project to a community, it is critical that you control the environment. This is true whether you are hosting large-scale events to present your ...
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Developers can find and rally latent support – see Saint Model Outcomes
By Nick Keable Vice President, UK Operations, The Saint Consulting Group So often developers find themselves drowned out at public hearings by opponents who object to wind farms blotting a landscape, or trucks raising dust and traffic dangers at a construction site and many other reasons why some people oppose development. Take wind farms, for example. The Saint ...
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Strategic Communications Pt 8: Budgeting Your Resources to Win
By Owen Eagan, The Saint Consulting Group In our last discussion, we talked about the importance of determining whether you can win before determining how much money you need (see Strategic Communications Part 7- Big Question: Can You Win? http://ow.ly/4IJ3B).  Once you determine whether you can win, how much money you’ll need is based on how ...
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Guide to Leadership, Effectiveness and Activities for Citizen Groups Pt 4
(Robert J. Flavell is vice chairman of The Saint Consulting Group and co-author of NIMBY Wars: The Politics of Land Use. This concludes the series begun last month) By Robert J. Flavell, Vice Chairman, The Saint Consulting Group Once the developer has identified natural supporters, outreach efforts will be needed to contact, recruit, ...
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The United States Remains the Most Difficult Country to Get Mining Permits
By Christopher Hopkins, Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group A recent study conducted by the Behre Dolbear Group, (BDG) determined that the United States remains the most difficult country to navigate the political permitting process. BDG conducts an annual survey that advises mining investors which countries they should invest their resources. The survey ...
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