Here’s the thing about relationships: you can’t disappear for a few years and then turn up at someone’s front door asking them to do you a favour. I mean you can – but it’s probably not going to be met with enthusiasm.

So why do we do this with communities?

Too often, community engagement begins when an organisation needs something. A development is proposed, infrastructure is being planned, a funding application needs letters of support, or a project team needs to demonstrate that the community has been consulted.

Suddenly, there are surveys, information sessions, stakeholder meetings and requests for feedback.

But if this is the first meaningful conversation you’ve had with the community, can you really call it engagement?

It’s important to distinguish between consultation and relationship-building.

Consultation can be quite transactional: there is a proposal on the table and people are invited to respond. Engagement, when done well, starts much earlier.

The best time to engage a community is before you need something from them. By showing up, listening, communicating honestly and meaningfully, you demonstrate that you actually value the relationship beyond the immediate project.

This is particularly important when we help clients who are property developers or business leaders within their communities. Whether they’re planning a development, infrastructure project or significant change, building relationships with local stakeholders early can help create a stronger understanding of the project and the community it will become part of.

With well over 30 years of working in the PR and communications space, this is something the Fresh team understand instinctively. If you want a journalist to understand your organisation, you don’t contact them only when you have a story. We take the time to understand what their field of expertise or interest is, share useful information with them and become a credible source.

Then, when you do have something important to say, there is already a connection there.

Community engagement should work in much the same way. It’s all about meaningful relationships.

If you’re planning a significant development, infrastructure project or change that will affect a neighbourhood, the relationship shouldn’t begin when the plans are finished. It should begin when the ideas are forming.

A letter of support isn’t the same thing as engagement.

There is nothing wrong with asking a community organisation for support. But if the first time they hear from you is when you need a letter by Friday, you’re not really asking for a conversation. You’re asking for credibility.

A letter of support should ideally be the result of an existing relationship – one where people understand the project, have had an opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns and contribute to the conversation.

Also important to note – meaningful engagement doesn’t mean everyone will agree with you. In fact, if your definition of successful engagement is getting everyone to agree, you’re probably not really engaging at all.

Good engagement creates space for disagreement. It allows people to tell you what concerns them, surfaces perspectives you may not have considered and gives local knowledge a place in decision-making.

Sometimes, listening to the community will change the project. That’s not a failure of engagement. That’s the engagement working. Who makes up this community? What matters to them? What has happened before that might influence how they respond? Who needs to be listened to? And perhaps most importantly: What will you do with what you hear?

Engagement without a feedback loop is just noise. If people give their time to participate, they deserve to know what happened as a result. The communication share goes both ways and is often on-going. Engagement shouldn’t end when a decision is made. Construction begins. Roads change. Businesses are disrupted. Timelines move. New issues emerge.

A genuine relationship means you continue to communicate. You remain accessible. You acknowledge concerns. You share progress. You keep showing up.

Just like a healthy relationship, it’s based on open communication, shared intent, consistency and, importantly, showing up – not just when you need something, but because the relationship matters.

Because when the conversation only starts when you need something, it’s not engagement. It’s an ask.

If you’re planning a development, infrastructure project or significant change in your community, it’s worth thinking about those relationships early. The right conversations can help you better understand your community, strengthen your project and build trust along the way.

If that’s something you’re considering, we’d be happy to talk it through with you.