Agenda item

(Director of Planning & Economic Development) To consider the attached report (LPC-008-2012/13).

(1)        That the responses made to the Statement of Community Involvement consultation be noted;

(2)        That the proposed modifications to the draft Statement of Community Involvement, which were partly as a response to the consultations and to update the document, be approved;

(3)        That the actions proposed for inclusion in the Council’s draft Local Plan Communications Strategy be approved;

(4)        That the further items to be explored for inclusion in the Council’s Local Plan Communications Strategy be noted; and

(5)        That the draft Statement of Community Involvement, incorporating the revised Local Plan Communications Strategy, be recommended to the Council for approval, on the understanding it represented the minimum level of actions the Council would take to encourage community involvement in the Local Plan process.

The Assistant Director of Planning & Economic Development (Policy & Conservation) presented a report on the draft Statement of Community Involvement and the draft Communications Strategy.

The Assistant Director reminded the Cabinet Committee that the Statement of Community Involvement represented the minimum that the Council would do in engaging with the community on matters of concern to the Local Plan, and a consultation on the draft version of the Statement of Community Involvement had been undertaken in the summer and autumn of 2012. The responses gave rise to considerable valuable feedback for the service which could now be implemented for forthcoming consultations. Consequently, a number of changes to the text of the Statement of Community Involvement had been made to make it clearer and more up to date, and address a number of the concerns raised.

The Assistant Director stated that, in addition, there were a range of actions proposed for inclusion in the draft Communications Strategy to strengthen the transparency of communication on the Local Plan and improve on the recent experience regarding planning policy consultation. It was intended that the Local Plan Communications Strategy would provide more detail as to how the Council would engage with all its stakeholders and would provide a detailed methodology. However, planning consultations always contained controversial matters and the overall aim could only be to ensure that messages were clearly and consistently communicated, and that processes were fair and transparent.

The Assistant Director added that some additional items had been identified for further study and, if considered feasible, could be included in time for the next major planning policy consultation, namely the ‘Preferred Options’ consultation. The draft Statement of Community Involvement and draft Communications Strategy, if agreed by the Local Plan Cabinet Committee, would then be submitted to the Council at its meeting in April 2013 for formal adoption.

Some of the other Members present opined that the Council would want as many responses as possible from the public for the ‘Preferred Options’ consultation, to generate a sound evidence base for the Local Plan. It was therefore suggested that plain English should be used for the supporting documents to make them more comprehensible to the public. The Chief Executive stated that the production of “Idiots Guides” for each document was being considered and the Leader of the Council confirmed that the Council would engage plain English consultants if necessary. It was also suggested that telephone and email contact information for the Parish and Town Council Clerks could also be provided within the advertising literature sent out by the District Council. The Assistant Director reassured the Meeting that the additional items identified for further study would be submitted for Member approval before being included in a future revised Statement of Community Involvement.

Decision:

(1)        That the responses made to the Statement of Community Involvement consultation be noted;

(2)        That the proposed modifications to the draft Statement of Community Involvement, which were partly as a response to the consultations and to update the document, be approved;

(3)        That the actions proposed for inclusion in the Council’s draft Local Plan Communications Strategy be approved;

(4)        That the further items to be explored for inclusion in the Council’s Local Plan Communications Strategy be noted; and

(5)        That the draft Statement of Community Involvement, incorporating the revised Local Plan Communications Strategy, be recommended to the Council for approval, on the understanding it represented the minimum level of actions the Council would take to encourage community involvement in the Local Plan process.

Reasons for Decision:

The Council was required to have an up to date Statement of Community Involvement which had been consulted upon. Following the consultation period, some revisions had been recommended, prior to the adoption of the Statement.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

The Council could not adopt the statement and only undertake the minimum engagement required by legislation, however the Council would not then be transparent about the way it intended to engage with the public on the Local Plan and in determining planning applications for development.