Agenda item

Statement of Community Involvement.

The report set out changes to the Statement of Community Involvement which provided the Council with an up-to-date commitment to how it will consult on planning policy documents and individual planning applications in line with current legislation and guidance relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed amendments in the addendum would be temporary and would apply up until such time when legislation and guidance allows the Council to safely revert back to the original Statement of Community Involvement which was adopted in June 2020.

Members raised the following issues:

Q:  How far reaching does a consultation have to be as far as an end user is concerned?

A:  The Council consult District wide and further afield outside the District.  It was noted that there are a number of businesses in the District.  Anyone with an interest in the District could be consulted.

Q:  Where it states written and email communication would continue did that include posted communication?

A:  Initially it would be email.  There was a consultation database specifically for the Local Plan.  Anyone who wanted to could register on the consultation database, details were provided on the website.  The Council would write to statutory consultees where they did not have email addresses, e.g. electricity companies, the Water Board, Environment Agency. 

Q:  Paragraph 3.4 in Appendix 2 stated ‘the circulation of information in hard copy format should be avoided by developers undertaking community consultation’.  Who was determining this?

A: These were rules under the current legislation and looked to try to prevent flyers or hard copy documents being posted to lessen contact with members of the public and to lessen the transmission of Covid 19. 

Q Paragraph 2.6 of the report stated that the Regulations had been extended to apply until 31 December 2021.  Specific dates were required as to when these would be reviewed.

A:  Legislation stated that the changes would remain in place until 31 December 2021.  The Council could not review this until the Government changes the legislations.  Officers would keep a check on any changes and report back to the Local Plan sub-committee and Policy and Resources Committee accordingly.  The Member asked for this point to be included for clarity.

Q:  Could instructions on how to look at the Local Plan consultation details online be put on all the notice boards across the District and not just in Rickmansworth?

A:  The Chair agreed that this was reasonable request.

Q:  Paragraph 2.13 of the report stated that the applicant would be responsible for displaying notices on behalf of the Council for planning applications.  Why would Officers not do this and who would checks be made to ensure the notices were put up in the correct location.

A:  This procedure was changed in March 2020 as part of the Covid 19 restrictions.  The notices were posted to the applicant who was responsible for put them up in the correct location.  The applicant had to take a photograph to confirm they had posted the notice in the right place.  The Director of Community and Environmental Services advised that most Planning Officers were working from home so it would involve a visit to the office and then out to the site to undertake this.  The new system was quicker and had been working well for the last year.  Applicants were made aware that the notices had to be put up and had to stay in place for a required period.  The Director would feedback to the Development Management team for Ward Councillors to be made aware so they could check the notices were in place.

Q:  A Member advised that they were already advised of Planning Application details weekly so did not see the need for an additional arrangement. 

Paragraph 2.13 made reference to the Statutory Local Plan Consultation, the Member said details should be displayed on all District noticeboards.  

On being put to the Committee the recommendation set out in the report was declared CARRIED by the Chair the voting being by general assent.

RECOMMEND:

Agreed to recommend the adoption of the Addendum to the Statement of Community Involvement as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.