Case Study: York Central secures public backing for its masterplan with Aberfield property PR

York Central secures 43 community events and planning approval with Aberfield

The customer, York Central, faced public skepticism and opposition from local communities regarding the deliverability of its large city center brownfield regeneration masterplan. The vendor, Aberfield, was appointed to provide property PR services to reframe the consultation process and galvanize support for the project.

Aberfield rethought the traditional consultation by organizing numerous pop-up events, community workshops, and a six-week Festival of York Central featuring 43 events. This solution secured significant positive engagement and media coverage. The results included a planning approval for the masterplan, with all comments made via their Commonplace platform being positive—a rare outcome for a scheme of this size.

York Central