The Swale Borough Local Plan Part 1 Statement of Consultation December 2014 Bearing Fruits 2031: Statement of Consultation December 2014
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The Swale Borough Local Plan Part 1 Statement of Consultation December 2014 Bearing Fruits 2031: Statement of Consultation December 2014 Bearing Fruits 2031: Swale Borough Local Plan – Statement of Consultation 1. Purpose of this Statement of Consultation 1.1 This Statement of Consultation accompanies the Publication of the Swale Borough Local Plan. It provides information on the consultation methods used throughout the preparation process so far and provides a summary of the main issues that have been raised during each consultation stage and the way in which the Council has addressed these. 2. Legal Requirements for Statement of Consultation 2.1 The Statement of Consultation is a legal requirement to accompany the Submission of the Local Plan to the Secretary of State under the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) 2012 Regulations SI No.767. Regulation 22 of the legislation requires the Statement to demonstrate: • who was consulted during the stages of preparation under Regulation 18; • how those who were consulted were invited to make representations; • what main issues were raised by the consultees; and • how the representations were taken into account in further preparation. 2.2 Furthermore, the legislation requires the Regulation 20 Statement to include: • the number of representations received during the Submission consultation undertaken for Regulation 19 (stating none if this was the case); and • a summary of the main issues raised by the representations (if applicable). An additional report will be produced to cover the Regulation 19 consultation and any representations received prior to submission. 2.3 The Swale Borough Local Plan was originally conceived as a Core Strategy to be supported by separate development plan documents for site specific allocations and development management policies, as envisaged by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, 2004 and the 2004 Statutory Regulations. Throughout the Local Plan preparation, there have been a number of changes to the Town and Country Planning Regulations. Under the previous 2004 Regulations, all Development Plan Documents were required to undergo public consultation at their Issues and Options (Regulation 25), Preferred Options (Regulations 26), and Submission stage (Regulation 28). 2.4 When the Regulations were amended in 2008, the Issues and Options and Preferred Options stage were consolidated under one consultation point (Regulation 25). The requirement to undertake a Submission consultation was retained, although it was renamed as a Regulation 27 consultation. 2.5 The new Regulations introduced in 2012 (the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning( England) Regulations SI No. 767) refer to the term Local Plan to describe the suite of documents formerly known as the Local Development Framework. Consultation on the preparation stages of the core strategy / local plan (the Issues and Options and Preferred Options) are a requirement under Regulation 18. The consultation on the submission version of the plan is required under Regulation 20.4. 2.6 Table 1 below outlines the various stages the Local Plan has gone through according to the Regulation number relevant at the time, for the each stage of preparation. Table 1 Legislation changes throughout the Local Plan preparation Stage in consultation Legislation 1 Bearing Fruits 2031: Statement of Consultation December 2014 Stage in consultation Legislation Core Strategy Initial Participation January 2009 2008, Regulation 25. Core Strategy Questionnaire and Road show 2008, Regulation 25. August 2009 Core Strategy Vision and Objectives August 2009 2008, Regulation 25. Core Strategy – A Clearer Vision April 2010 2008, Regulation 25. Pick Your Own - Issues and Options (Core 2008, Regulation 25 Strategy) January 2011 Bearing Fruits – preferred Option (Core Strategy) 2008, Regulation 25 March 2012 Following a consultation draft in autumn 2011, the final version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published in March 2012, just days after the Bearing Fruits consultation began. Although the draft plan did successfully anticipate the policy stance on many issues within the NPPF, a number of issues arose, both from its final content and the way in which it has subsequently been applied in practice to plans reaching Examination in Public stage in other local authorities Bearing Fruits – Swale Borough Local Plan – 2102, Regulation 18 consultation draft, August 2013 Swale Borough Local Plan – publication draft, 2012, Regulation 20.4 December 2014 Statement of Community Involvement: approach to planning consultation in Swale 2.7 Section 18 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, 2004, requires local planning authorities to produce a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) which explains how local communities and other interested parties will be engaged in the production of Local Plans (and determining planning applications). 2.8 The Swale SCI was adopted in 2008, following consultation and consideration by a Planning inspector. It sets out the detail of whom and how the Council will consult in the preparation of local Planning documents and in commenting on planning applications. The methods and techniques were intended to encourage community participation and ensure transparency of process and availability of information, commensurate with resources available, and the nature of the subject of consultation and current statutory regulation and national policy. The Swale Core Strategy/Borough Local Plan has been prepared in accordance with this. The statutory regulations did change during the plan preparation process, as a result of the Localism Act and the National Planning Policy Framework and whilst the Council has endeavoured to stay as close as possible to the consultation arrangements envisaged by the SCI, through undertaking an additional round of consultation when site specific allocations were introduced post NPPF, it has also confident that it has 2 Bearing Fruits 2031: Statement of Consultation December 2014 complied with the latest statutory regulations in consulting the necessary bodies at the appropriate stages. 2.9 The Borough Council channels consultation results through its Local Development Framework Panel (which is a non-executive committee, that meets in public and whose recommendations are ratified by Cabinet). Councillors take on board the representations received and have had regard to them alongside policy, legislation and evidence base in deciding how to progress the Plan at each key stage. Duty to Cooperate 2.10 The Localism Act 2011 added a new section to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 that imposed a duty for local planning authorities and other bodies to cooperate with each other in the preparation of Local Plan Documents. 2.11 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that local planning authorities will be expected to demonstrate evidence of having effectively cooperated to plan for issues with cross-boundary impacts. A Duty to Cooperate Statement has been prepared separately to set out how the Council has met the Duty. There is some overlap with the on-going process of consultation and joint working catalogued here. 2.12 Use has also been made of the Borough Council’s free quarterly newspaper Inside Swale, where appropriate for updates on the Local Plan. This is delivered to all households in the Borough. At the March 2012 Core Strategy issues and options stage, a leaflet was sent to all households in the Borough to alert them to the forthcoming consultation. Additionally, use has been made of press releases to local newspapers and responding to articles or letters appearing in them. Roving and static exhibitions; parish council briefings, public meetings on specific topics and even a well-attended ‘Question Time’ event have been used at to support consultation stages. In addition appearances at specific stakeholder meetings have all been carried out at various stages in the process, just for informal updating and information dissemination on where the process had got to, especially in the wake of far reaching national planning policy changes. The Council also uses its contacts in local business and other events (for example, the launch on 25 November 2014 of the Local Business website, which was used to highlight the imminent publication draft plan and network with potential developers and investors). 2.13 Table 2 below provides an overview of the consultation arrangements in accordance with the SCI. Table 2 Summary of consultation methods used Consultation Pre- Core Pick Your Bearing Bearing Swale method consultation Strategy – Own - Fruits Fruits – Borough vision and Issues Preferred Swale Local Plan objectives and Option Borough Publication Options (Core Local Plan draft, (Core Strategy) Consultation December Strategy) draft, 2014 August 2013 Questionnaire X X X Workshops and meetings X X X Portal consultation X X X X X X 3 Bearing Fruits 2031: Statement of Consultation December 2014 Road show X Leaflet X X X Open day X X Static exhibition X X X X Roving exhibition X X X X Question Time X Appendix 2 provides a detailed account of the consultation events undertaken during the Local Plan preparation, how it was undertaken and who was consulted. 3. Who did we consult? 3.1 In accordance with Regulation 18(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Plan) (England) Regulations SI 2012 No.767, the Borough Council has consulted the following: • specific consultation bodies; • general consultation bodies; and • local residents and businesses.