Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan Submission Consultation Statement
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Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan Submission (Regulation 22) Consultation Statement January 2018 Contents Section Title Page 1. Purpose of the document 3 Regulations The Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan Stages in preparing the VALP Statement of Community Involvement Sustainability Appraisal Evidence Base 2. Scope of The Plan - 2014 (Regulation 18) 10 3. Issues and Options – 2015 (Regulation 18) 14 4. Draft Plan – 2016 (Non-Statutory) 18 5. Proposed Submission Plan – 2017 (Regulation 19) 29 Appendices Page A. Consultation Methods 73 B. Deposit Point Location and Opening Hours 87 C. List of Specific, General and Other Consultees 88 Tables 1 Stages of engagement in the production of the Vale of 5 Aylesbury Local Plan 2 Summary of representations received from Duty to Co- 54 operate Bodies at Reg 19 3. General consultation methods 73 4. Specific SCI requirements for each consultation stage 76 5. Summary of Major Issues raised through Draft Plan 83 consultation & how addressed in Proposed Submission VALP VALP Submission (Regulation 22) Consultation Statement -2- 1. Purpose of the document 1.1 This version of the consultation statement sets out how the Council has involved residents and key stakeholders in preparing the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan. For each consultation stage it describes the background to the work, the various periods of consultation that have been held, along with who was invited to make representations and how. This is then followed by a summary of the main issues that were raised at each stage and how they have been addressed. It should be read alongside the Duty to Cooperate Statement of Compliance which also explains how we have engaged actively and constructively with duty to co-operate bodies, including neighbouring authorities, about strategic issues and the outcomes achieved. Regulations 1.2 This Consultation Statement describes how the Council has undertaken community participation and stakeholder involvement in the production of the Local Plan to date, setting out how such efforts have shaped the Plan and the main issues raised during each consultation. It is produced to respond to and therefore fulfil the requirements set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, and specifically Regulation 19 and Regulation 22(1) part (c). This requires the submission to the Secretary of State of a statement setting out: ● which bodies and persons the local planning authority invited to make representations under Regulation 18; ● how those bodies and persons were invited to make representations under Regulation 18; ● a summary of the main issues raised by the representations made pursuant to Regulation 18; ● how any representations made pursuant to Regulation 18 have been taken into account; ● if representations were made pursuant to Regulation 20, the number of representations made and a summary of the main issues raised in those representations; and ● if no representations were made in Regulation 20, that no such representations were made. The Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan 1.3 This consultation statement accompanies the Submission Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) in accordance with Regulation 22 (1) (c). The VALP is the emerging Local Plan for the district and will, once adopted, replace the 2004 Aylesbury Vale District Local Plan (AVDLP) saved policies. The VALP sets out a clear strategic direction for the district, whilst enabling neighbourhood planning to come forward should communities so wish. The VALP also contains: 1. Housing and jobs numbers for the Local Plan period, which is through to 2033. VALP Submission (Regulation 22) Consultation Statement -3- 2. Strategic vision, objectives and strategic policies – including for Aylesbury Garden Town. 3. Development Management Policies – including design policies, affordable housing, housing mix, employment, infrastructure delivery, green belt policy/criteria for assessing proposals within, tourism, gypsy and travellers, change of use, renewable energy and climate change. 4. Site Allocations for housing, employment, retail, gypsy and traveller sites and green infrastructure. 5. Locally valued landscape designations and a reviewed green belt boundary. 6. A reviewed Aylesbury town centre boundary and retail frontages. 7. Detailed Infrastructure to be set out in policies and proposals in an Infrastructure Delivery Plan. 1.4 The VALP has been prepared in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and National Planning Policy Guidance. Consultation has been taken within the context of Paragraph 155 of the NPPF which states: “Early and meaningful engagement and collaboration with neighbourhoods, local organisations and businesses is essential. A wide section of the community should be proactively engaged, so that Local Plans, as far as possible, reflect a collective vision and a set of agreed priorities for the sustainable development of the area, including those contained in any neighbourhood plans that have been made.” 1.5 Aside from demonstrating compliance with the aforementioned Regulations this statement also highlights how AVDC has met the requirements of paragraph 155 of the NPPF and the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) (November 2013 update). Stages in preparing the VALP 1.6 The specific stages in the plan preparation are set out below in Table 1. VALP Submission (Regulation 22) Consultation Statement -4- Table 1: Stages of engagement in the production of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan1 STAGE Regulatio Weeks n SCOPE OF THE PLAN Regulation 18 Total number of weeks public consultation 2 April – 28 May 2014. An 8-week Scoping (Regulation 18) Consultation was undertaken asking respondents to tell us if the proposed scope for the plan was correct, and if anything should not be included or was missing. Around 250 responses were received at this stage. Forums for communities, stakeholders and developers 8 were held in late 2014 to share initial findings of the evidence. A ‘Call For Sites’ was commenced inviting the submission of sites that would be considered in the technical evidence to inform the VALP site allocations and overall growth capacity. ISSUES AND OPTIONS Regulation 18 From 23 October- 4 December 2015, we published a VALP Issues and Options document with a draft evidence base for comment. A Draft Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment (HEDNA) and Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) evidence studies were published, along with other evidence to support the VALP Issues and Options. As part of this, exhibitions 6 were held at key larger settlements in the district. The total number of respondents was 771, providing 4,480 individual responses to the questions. A summary report of the issues raised is available at: http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/vale-aylesbury-local-plan- %E2%80%93-issues-and-options-consultation DRAFT PLAN Non-Statutory stage On 7 July- 5 September 2016 we published the next stage of the plan, the VALP Draft Plan, for 8 weeks consultation, including Policy Map Insets with a suite of supporting documents. This stage of the plan included a developed preferred spatial strategy, fully written policies and proposed allocations. This engagement was accompanied by a series of exhibitions and a report of comments received has been 8 published. Please see: http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/vale- aylesbury-local-plan-draft-plan. More than 1,600 responses, comprising over 5,000 comments, were received. After this time, various evidence documents to inform the next stage of plan making were commissioned or finalised and published when completed. PROPOSED SUBMISSION Regulation 19 During 2017, further evidence to inform the VALP Proposed Submission stage was completed to inform the Proposed Submission 6 Plan including a Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation 1 Please note that as well as the stages outlined in table 1.0 there was also regular and on going dialogue with key stakeholders including adjoining authorities (please see the Duty to Cooperate Statement of Compliance (November 2017) for more information). VALP Submission (Regulation 22) Consultation Statement -5- Assessment, transport, viability, landscape, open space/sports, cumulative impact assessment for Aylesbury and an updated Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment. The VALP Proposed Submission was agreed by full Council on 18 October 2017. The plan was published for a final period of public comment prior to being submitted to Government for independent examination. This took place over a six week period, from 2 November 2017 until 14 December 2017. 988 responses, comprising 2441 comments, were received. On the penultimate day of the Regulation 19 consultation, it became apparent that an earlier draft version of the Plan could be accessed online through the Council’s website. This was the case even though the main VALP consultation page – to which the vast majority of respondents referred – contained the links to the most up to date draft. The responses which referred to the older draft were identified, 6 in total, and carefully reviewed. The Council’s view was that none of these 6 consultees had been prejudiced by referring to a previous draft. However, in an abundance of caution these 6 consultees were notified and given an extended deadline of 15 January 2018 to submit any amended or further representations on the changed elements of the Plan which were minor in nature. Further checking during the processing of representations at the start of 2018 identified a further three responses which referred to the older draft of the Plan. As before, consideration was given to whether these consultees had been prejudiced as a result of this but the Council concluded that this was not the case. Nonetheless, the three respondents in question were contacted and given an extended deadline (13 working days as with the previous group) to submit amended or further representations on the changed elements of the Plan. TOTAL WEEKS 28 CONSULTA TION 1.7 The above table shows how we have fully complied with the requirements in the Regulations in terms of consulting on the content of the emerging VALP.