Delivering a public consultation during the first wave of COVID-19 was a daunting challenge. This was also a high profile project with national attention. NECS' expertise in designing and delivering public consultations was invaluable in making the case that we could deliver a best practice consultation using virtual methods. NECS were able to adapt their existing plan, developed before face-to-face contact became impossible, to a virtual, non-contact context. We are absolutely confident that we delivered on all the consultation’s objectives. A longer term gain for us locally has also been persuading local stakeholders that we can undertake engagement and consultation using virtual methods without compromising the quality of the exercise.