Council and councillors

Report No; 85/2020

(Key decision)

1.    Cabinet considered and approved a revision to the Local Development Scheme (LDS) as set out in Appendix 1 of the report to reflect the proposed updated timetable for the Local Plan.

2.    Cabinet considered and approved the draft review of the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) as set out in the Appendix 2 for 4 weeks consultation. 

Councillor G Brown, as the relevant Portfolio Holder elaborated on the report and explained that a review of the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) at this time would allow progress with the Local Plan consultation, and enable the Regulation 19 consultation (and subsequent stages) with regards to the Local Plan which had been approved by Council in February 2020, to take place. He further explained that the SCI was not a development plan document and noted that there was no statutory requirement to consult on it. It was however considered good practice to undertake informal consultation on the proposed changes. Cabinet were being asked to approve the draft review for a four-week consultation; this having been proposed that the consultation on the revised SCI will run from Friday 19^th June to Friday 17^th July 2020.  It was further noted that there were three stages of consultation which had already taken place in the preparation of the Local Planand the recommendation would enable the statutory consultation on the plan to progress.

Councillor G Brown updated Cabinet to the questions asked by the Growth Infrastructure and Resources Committee following the meeting held on the 11^th June 2020 which are appended to the minutes.

RESOLVED:

1.    That a revision to the Local Development Scheme (LDS) as set out in Appendix 1 of the report to reflect the proposed updated timetable for the Local Plan be considered and approved.

2.    That the draft review of the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) as set out in the Appendix 2 for 4 weeks consultation be considered and approved. 

Reasons for decisions:

      i.         The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of the implementation of the Council’s statutory functions. In the context of the Local Plan, a decision was made not to commence the planned Regulation 19 consultation on 24th March but to keep this decision under review. Since then recent MHCLG advice encourages Local Planning Authorities to progress with the preparation of local plans as these will be key to enabling the inevitable economic recovery which will be necessary once the pandemic is over.

     ii.         As a result of postponement of the consultation the Local Plan timetable needs to be updated and published. Appendix 1 to this report sets out the revised timetable for the remaining stages in the process.

    iii.         The current SCI has been reviewed in order to update all elements of community engagement in the planning process and to ensure that Covid-19 restrictions are appropriate covered. This review will also provide the opportunity to maintain progress with the Local Plan in circumstances where there are limitations on access, movement and face to face contact which make the current provisions of the SCI impossible to implement for an uncertain period of time. The draft reviewed SCI is set out in Appendix 2 and Cabinet is asked to approve this document for a four week consultation period beginning on Friday 19th June 2020.

   iv.         The proposed changes to the SCI are in line with recent guidance issued by the Government.