How decisions are made and who represents you
Decision Maker: Head of Economy and Planning
Decision status: For Determination
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
A key legal requirement of the Local Plan
Review is that it must be prepared in accordance with an up-to-date
adopted Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). The current SCI
was adopted by Cabinet on 8 February 2017 and was published to the
website.
However, this document requires some factual update and minor
amendments ahead of the Local Plan being considered by Cabinet/Full
Council for Publication and Submission in order to reflect the
current position:
• “other planning guidance documents” constituting
SPD, and deleting reference to “other” planning
guidance documents;
• the changes to the process and adoption procedures for
planning documents so all SPDs are approved by Portfolio Holder,
rather than some being Cabinet decisions;
• changes to the Development Management processes, including
the introduction of pre-application charges
• some clarifications to the processes and procedures relating
to Neighbourhood Planning and Neighbourhood Plans; and
• the change from “Forward” Planning to
“Strategic” Planning.
To approve the Statement of Community
Involvement November 2019 Factual Update as the council's adopted
SCI in accordance with Section 18 of the Planning and Compulsory
Purchase Act 2004 (as amended).
Option 1 - Not to update the SCI and continue
to Full Council and publication (Regulation 19) consultation with
the Local Plan on the basis of the existing adopted February 2019
SCI.
Option 2 - To make factual updates to the SCI to ensure the Local
Plan is considered at Full Council and is published for formal
(Regulation 19) consultation in accordance with the most up-to-date
and procedurally/legally correct position (Chosen Option).
Option 3 - To undertake a full review of the SCI, including formal
consultation.
Option 2 was chosen as the most appropriate approach. There is
insufficient time to undertake a full review with consultation
without delaying the Local Plan Review process significantly.
Critically, the SCI was comprehensively reviewed relatively
recently in 2017, and the procedural changes since then required
only minor amendments to the document. Option 1 was discounted as
the risks associated with continuing to a Full Council decision
without an up-to-date SCI was considered to potentially open the
Local Plan up to challenge through Judicial Review at the end of
the whole Local Plan Review process.
Publication date: 12/11/2019
Date of decision: 29/10/2019