Pre-Submission Consultation Statement

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English Channel © Crown Copyright South Gloucestershire 10002341,2006 August 2007

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Map reproduced from the Ordnance Survey map with the permission of the Controller H.M. Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright South Gloucestershire 10002341,2006 This information can be made available in other languages, in large print, braille or on audio tape. Please phone 01454 868009 if you need any of these or any other help to access Council services.

Designed by South Gloucestershire Council, Design & Print Services ref: 2640/08/07 Tel: 01454 863763 Printed on recycled paper 75% Post Consumer Waste Date of Publication 08/07 Free internet access is available at all South Gloucestershire libraries www.southglos.gov.uk PRE-SUBMISSION CONSULTATION STATEMENT

REGULATION 28 (1) (c) STATEMENT AUGUST 2007

1. Introduction 1.1 This statement sets out the pre-submission consultation and community involvement undertaken for the South Gloucestershire Council Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) to comply with Regulation 28 (1) (c) of the Town and Country (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004.

1.2 The statement explains the consultation undertaken and details of who has been consulted to date; how they were consulted; the issues raised and how these have been addressed in the Submission Draft SCI. 2. Regulation 25 Pre-Production Consultation

2.1 This statement is required by Regulation 28(1)(c) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004. It deals with the process that South Gloucestershire Council has gone through to engage the community with respect to the pre-submission consultation stage (Regulation 25).

2.2 Regulation 25 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 ensures early consultation for Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and for the SCI. To comply with Regulation 25, letters were sent to the statutory consultation bodies on July 20th 2006 (see Appendix 1 for letter and list of recipients), together with a selection of other stakeholder organisations and developer/planning agents. This letter informed the recipients that South Gloucestershire Council was in the process of embarking on the production of the SCI and asked for comments on how they felt the council could best involve the community in the new planning system.

2.3 At this same time, the Council set up an on-line questionnaire using the iNovem e-consult computer programme. The letter invited the recipients to register with the iNovem system and to complete the questionnaire. The letter made it clear that paper copies of the questionnaire were available if required so as not to prejudice those without easy access to a computer. The informal consultation was to close on September 30th, however this closing date was not to be strictly enforced, with additional time allowed for any comments to be received after this date. A total of 54 people registered on the iNovem system. In addition, a total of six hard-copy questionnaires were requested and returned completed.

2.4 Shortly after this first letter was sent, a further letter was sent out to the same recipients on August 8th 2006, inviting them to attend one of three ‘SCI Workshops’ that were to be held at the following times and venues (see Appendix 2 for letter and list of recipients):

• Friday 8th September, Chipping Sodbury Town Hall • Tuesday 26th September, The Park Centre, High Street, Kingswood th • Wednesday 27 September, Greenfield Centre, Winterbourne

A total of 42 people attended the three workshops.

Missed Consultees

2.5 Several of the statutory bodies that Regulation 25 requires consultation with were missed from the original round of letters that were sent in July 2006. The missed consultees were:

• The South West Regional Assembly • Gloucestershire County Council • Wiltshire County Council • Bristol City Council • Bath and North East Somerset Council • North Somerset Council • Cotswolds District Council • Stroud District Council • Forest of Dean Council

2.6 Letters were written to these bodies on 27th October 2006 that were similar in content to the original letters (this letter can be seen in Appendix 3). A hard copy of the questionnaire was included with the letters for the bodies to complete. In addition, on 27th November 2006 the following town and parish councils, which had been omitted from the final pre-consultation stage, were consulted with:

• Aylburton Parish Council • Didmarton Parish Council • Tidenham Parish Council

The letter that was sent to them can be seen at Appendix 4.

2.7 Although these bodies were consulted at a later date than the other consultees in July 2006, it is considered that they were still afforded adequate opportunity to comment and influence the preparation of the Draft Statement of Community Involvement, in accordance with Regulation 25, as the document was still in production at these times.

2.8 Three responses were received in response to the first ‘missed consultee’ letter:

• The South West Regional Assembly wrote to acknowledge Receipt of the letter but made no further comment. • Bath and North East Somerset Council returned a completed hard copy of the questionnaire. • Wiltshire County Council also returned a completed hard copy of the questionnaire.

No responses were received from the second ‘missed consultee’ letter.

Main Issues raised in the Pre-Production Consultation

The Workshops: 2.9 Four clear overall messages came through that were repeated at all three workshops. These were:

• Use the ‘community network’ to reach the widest possible audience, i.e. a ‘trickle-down’ approach to informing and engaging the community and raising awareness. • The earlier the consultation and awareness raising is in planning processes the better. • Information provided to raise awareness, inform and engage the community should always be clear and in plain English. • The community needs to be made aware of what is truly at stake at each stage of engagement and consultation in order to encourage them to get involved.

The Questionnaires 2.10 The main message that came through was that while use of computer technology for consultation purposes should be increased and consolidated, paper copies of documents and information should still be readily available for those that do not have easy access to the internet. Another issue raised in the questionnaire results was that letters and/or email appear to be the preferred form of correspondence for most of the respondents, with the use of the press and clear and widespread site notices being the best techniques for raising awareness.

How these issues were addressed in the Draft SCI at the Regulation 26 Stage

2.11 Several paragraphs and sentences were included in the Draft SCI as a direct result of the questionnaire survey and discussions at the workshops, including paragraphs 2.9, 2.10, 3.4, 4.2, 5.5 and 5.14. The overall tone of the SCI is one that encourages early engagement in planning issues. 3. Regulation 26 Consultation on the Pre-Submission Consultation Draft SCI

3.1 This statement is required by Regulation 28(1)(d) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004. It deals with the process that South Gloucestershire Council went through to advertise the Consultation Draft SCI for consultation under Regulation 26 and the representations that were made to the document under Regulation 27.

3.2 The discussions that took place at the workshops and the results of the online iNovem questionnaire survey, together with best practice examples of adopted SCIs from elsewhere in the country and good practice guidance, were used to inform the preparation of the draft SCI.

3.3 Following the decision of Cabinet on 18th December 2006, the Consultation Draft SCI was then put out to a full public consultation for six weeks from Friday 12th January to Friday 23rd February 2007. To publicise this, letters and emails containing the proposals matters were sent out to around 500 stakeholders to inform them of the consultation, including:

• All South Gloucestershire Parish/Town Councils • All neighbouring Parish/Town Councils and Local Authorities/County Councils • GOSW • South West Regional Assembly • The Highways Agency • The Environment Agency • English Heritage • Natural England • The Countryside Agency

The full list, together with the letter, can be seen in Appendix 5.

3.4 Press notices were placed in the Bristol Evening Post and the South Gloucestershire Gazette newspapers (see Appendix 6) which both cover the whole of South Gloucestershire. A press release was also made which resulted in a feature also appearing in both the Bristol Evening post and South Gloucestershire Gazette (see Appendix 7).

3.5 Copies of the Draft SCI were sent to all South Gloucestershire Libraries (including the mobile library) and the three One-Stop-Shops (at Yate, Thornbury and Kingswood). All South Gloucestershire Parish and Town Councils were sent two copies of the Draft SCI. Each of the other organisations listed above at para. 3.3 were also sent a copy. The notification letters sent to all consultees said that copies could be sent to them upon request. 3.6 Once again the Council’s iNovem online e-consult system was also utilised. An electronic version of the Draft SCI was put on-line and emails were sent to all those people who had registered on the system during the pre-production phase. A ‘structured’ version of the SCI was also put on the system. This meant that members of the public could read the SCI on-screen and comment on individual sections and paragraphs of the SCI with ease. This also had the advantage of allowing more efficient analysis of representations by staff as it was easily apparent which comments had been made to which parts of the SCI.

Representations Received

3.7 During the consultation period a total of 95 comments (including 7 internal comments) were received from a total of 38 stakeholders. 16 of these comments were supportive of the Draft SCI. Schedules of the internal and external comments made, and responses to them, are available separately on request.

3.8 The comments received came from a wide cross-section of the community and covered a variety of topics. The comments received can be summarised as falling into the following categories:

1) Inclusion of respondent organisation in consultation list in Appendix 2. 2) Spelling/Grammar/Word usage 3) Resourcing consultation and the Council’s planning processes 4) Development Control/Major Sites consultation 5) How consultation groups/organisations are involved 6) LDF document production processes (including SA/SEA) 7) Advertisement/Notification/Feedback 8) Council contact details 9) Miscellaneous

3.9 The SCI has been re-drafted to take account of many of the representations received. Most notably, Section 3, which describes the processes for LDF document production, has been significantly altered in order to differentiate between processes for Supplementary Planning Documents and Development Plan Documents. Increased reference has also been made to the process of Sustainability Appraisal in this section.

3.10 Other notable amendments made to the SCI as a result of the comments received under regulation 27 have been:

• Appendix 8 added which sets out the minimum requirements for consultation for LDF documents under regulations. • Addition of clearer objectives of the SCI and consultation in Section 1. • Clearer contact details in Section 1 • Addition of further information concerning the involvement of hard to reach groups and Council Officers to Section 2. • Re-drafting of Major Sites consultation requirements in Section 4 to aid clarity. • Increased reference to the Local Area Agreement in Section 5 • Clearer processes for review of the SCI set out in Section 5. • Several organisations added to list of consultees in Appendix 2 of the SCI.

Summary

3.11 All relevant regulations have been complied with in preparing the Submission Draft SCI. Following the decision of Full Council on 11th July 2007, the Submission Draft SCI has been submitted to the Government Office for the South West in August 2007 and public consultation conducted 7th September to 19th October 2007. Appendix 1 Regulation 25 Advertisement letter, sent 17th July 2006

Date: Enquiries to: Ben McGee Telephone: 01454 863572 Fax: 01454 863166 Internet: [email protected]

Dear Sir/Madam

Statement of Community Involvement – Initial Consultation Questionnaire (Regulation 25)

As you may be aware, a new planning system was introduced in 2004. Under the new system, ‘Local Plans’ have been replaced by ‘Local Development Frameworks’. The Local Development Framework is a collection of planning documents which set out the Council’s policies and proposals for the development and use of land.

A key feature of the new system is that local planning authorities in preparing its portfolio of LDF documents involve the community early and upfront in their preparation. To enable this to take place a feature of the new system is that local planning authorities need to produce a ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ (SCI).

The SCI sets out how the community will be involved in the preparation of planning documents and in the consultation and determination of planning applications. Preparing the Statement will ensure that authorities consider how best to involve communities and benefit from their knowledge and expertise in the way we prepare plans and make planning decisions.

I am writing therefore to ask for your views on how you think that you, your organisation, stakeholders or the general public should be consulted by South Gloucestershire Council on planning matters in the future. These findings will then be fed into the final draft of the SCI.

As part of its drive to make consultation on policy issues more accessible and efficient, South Gloucestershire Council has introduced a new internet-based consultation system. This follows on from the success and positive feedback received by users of our well-established on-line website for planning application consultations. By using the new internet based consultation system, people can quickly and easily respond to consultations on-line. This system will also allow the Council to analyse consultation responses faster and more accurately, thus reducing the amount of time and resources it takes to respond to consultations and to produce policy documents. It also means using less paper, so it is more environmentally friendly too. We would therefore be grateful if you would consider using the on-line system as your preferred means to respond to this consultation. You can log on at the following web address: consultations.southglos.gov.uk (note there is no www. as a prefix) where you will need to register and follow the links to ‘Statement of Community Involvement’. It should take you around 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire and is free.

In case you are not able to complete the questionnaire on-line, a copy of the questionnaire is available to download from our website or can be obtained from the Spatial Planning team, telephone 01454 863469. All comments, whether received electronically or in hard copy, will be treated exactly the same. However you choose to respond please ensure we receive your response by 30th September 2006.

All responses will be read and considered to help to inform the writing of the draft SCI. When we have finished the draft SCI we will write to you and others again to ask for your opinions on it. We aim for this to happen in January/February 2007.

If you require any help to complete the on-line questionnaire, or have any other questions please contact me on 01454 863572.

I look forward to hearing from you before or by 30th September.

Yours faithfully

Ben McGee Planning Policy Officer Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council

Recipients of letter: Acton Turville Parish Council Almondsbury Parish Council Alveston Parish Council Aust Parish Council Badminton Parish Council Bitton Parish Council Bradley Stoke Town Council Charfield Parish Council Cold Ashton Parish Council Cromhall Parish Council Dodington Parish Council LA21 Steering Group (Bristol YMCA & Kingswood Youth Groups) LA21 Steering Group (Friends of Leap Valley) LA21 Steering Group (South Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth) LA21 Steering Group (Concern for the Environment) Falfield Parish Council Filton Town Council Frampton Cotterell Parish Council Hanham Parish Council Hanham Abbots Parish Council Hawkesbury Parish Council Hill Parish Meeting Horton Parish Council Iron Acton Parish Council Little Sodbury Parish Council Mangotsfield Rural Parish Council Marshfield Parish Council Oldbury on Severn Parish Council Oldland Parish Council Olveston Parish Council Patchway Town Council Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council Pucklechurch Parish Council Rangeworthy Parish Council Siston Parish Council Sodbury Town Council Stoke Gifford Parish Council Thornbury Town Council Tormarton Parish Council Tortworth Parish Council Tytherington Parish Council Westerleigh Parish Council Wick and Abson Parish Council Wickwar Parish Council Winterbourne Parish Council Yate Town Council Government Office for the South West The Countryside Agency The Highways Agency English Heritage Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority Woodland Trust Keynsham Town Council Saltford Parish Council North Stoke Parish Council Charlcombe Parish Council Batheaston Parish Council St Catherine Parish Council Swainswick Parish Council North Wiltshire District Council Colerne Parish Council Grittleton Parish Council Luckington Parish Council Nettleton Parish Council North Wraxall Parish Council Sopworth Parish Council First Bristol & First Somerset and Avon South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach Company South Gloucestershire Cycle Forum South Gloucestershire Parish Forum Avon Local Councils Association Parish Charter Working Group Rockhampton Parish Council Development Land & Planning Consultants Ltd South Gloucestershire CPRE RPS Planning Phillips Planning and Development Alder King Avon Wildlife Trust Thornbury Green Belt Campaign Cllr Peter Tyzack, Local Member for Pilning and Severn Beach Ward Heron Land Developments Ltd Hanham District Green Belt Conservation Society Olveston Parish Village Design Statement Team White Young Green CSJ Planning Consultants LTD South Gloucestershire Senior Citzens Forum LA Forum (Thornbury Group, Avon Wildlife Trust, speaker) The Barton Willmore Planning Partnership - Western Peacock & Smith The Greenfield Charitable Trust Savills McCarthy and Stone Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council Doynton Parish Council Dyrham and Hinton Parish Council CPRE National Office The Gypsy Council - European and UK office Alkington Parish Council Ham and Stone Parish Council Hillesley and Tresham Parish Council Kingswood Parish Council North Nibley Parish Council Transport 2000 GVA Grimley

All South Gloucestershire Council members also received the letter via email, in addition to a number of officers. Appendix 2 Regulation 25 Workshop invitation letter – sent 8th August 2006

Date: Enquiries to: Ben McGee Telephone: 01454 863572 Fax: 01454 863166 Internet: [email protected] Dear Sir/Madam

Statement of Community Involvement – Workshops

You may have recently received a letter from me about the up-front pre- production consultation that the Council is currently running on our website concerning the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). In that I drew attention to a questionnaire survey on our website. I am now inviting you to attend a workshop designed to explore these issues in more detail.

As part of this consultation period, we are also holding three workshop events. These workshops will give attendees a chance to voice their opinions to Council Officers and other stakeholders on how the Council should consult with local people and stakeholders. Council Officers will be on hand at the events to explain about the planning system and to answer any questions you may have about the planning system and planning consultation issues. The feedback that we receive from the workshops will inform the writing of the draft SCI.

The workshops are taking place at the following times and venues:

1) Friday 8th September, 2 - 4.30pm:

Chipping Sodbury Town Hall 57-59 Broad Street Chipping Sodbury South Gloucestershire BS37 6AD

2) Tuesday 26th September, 7 – 9pm

The Park Centre High Street Kingswood Bristol BS15 4AR

3) Wednesday 27th September, 2 - 4.30pm:

Greenfield Centre Park Avenue Winterbourne BS36 1NJ

Places are limited so we would request that a maximum of two people per organisation should attend. If this poses a problem please contact me on 01454 863572.

If you would like to attend, please complete the separate sheet that is enclosed with this letter and return to me by Friday 18th August. Alternatively, you can email me to say which of the three workshops you would like to attend – my email address is [email protected] . It is important that attendees register in order to avoid over subscription and so that I can gauge the likely attendance. Thank you.

The SCI and the new planning system

The new planning system was introduced in 2004. Under the new system, ‘Local Plans’ have been replaced by ‘Local Development Frameworks’. The Local Development Framework is a collection of planning documents that set out the Council’s policies and proposals for the development and use of land.

We are currently running an on-line questionnaire survey to ask for your opinions on how best the Council can engage and consult with the community on planning issues that will help us to write the draft SCI. You can log on and take part at the following web address: consultations.southglos.gov.uk (note there is no www. as a prefix) where you will need to register and follow the links to ‘Statement of Community Involvement’. It should take you around 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire and is free. If you are unable to complete this on-line then you can contact me on 01454 863572 to request a hard copy that I will then post to you. We should receive questionnaire responses to this no later than Saturday 30th September 2006.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully Ben McGee Planning Policy Officer Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council

Recipients of letter:

Acton Turville Parish Council Almondsbury Parish Council Alveston Parish Council Aust Parish Council Badminton Parish Council Bitton Parish Council Bradley Stoke Town Council Charfield Parish Council Cold Ashton Parish Council Cromhall Parish Council Dodington Parish Council LA21 Steering Group (Bristol YMCA & Kingswood Youth Groups) LA21 Steering Group (Friends of Leap Valley) LA21 Steering Group (South Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth) LA21 Steering Group (Concern for the Environment) Falfield Parish Council Filton Town Council Frampton Cotterell Parish Council Hanham Parish Council Hanham Abbots Parish Council Hawkesbury Parish Council Hill Parish Meeting Horton Parish Council Iron Acton Parish Council Little Sodbury Parish Council Mangotsfield Rural Parish Council Marshfield Parish Council Oldbury on Severn Parish Council Oldland Parish Council Olveston Parish Council Patchway Town Council Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council Pucklechurch Parish Council Rangeworthy Parish Council Siston Parish Council Sodbury Town Council Stoke Gifford Parish Council Thornbury Town Council Tormarton Parish Council Tortworth Parish Council Tytherington Parish Council Westerleigh Parish Council Wick and Abson Parish Council Wickwar Parish Council Winterbourne Parish Council Yate Town Council Government Office for the South West The Countryside Agency The Highways Agency English Heritage Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority Woodland Trust Keynsham Town Council Saltford Parish Council North Stoke Parish Council Charlcombe Parish Council Batheaston Parish Council St Catherine Parish Council Swainswick Parish Council North Wiltshire District Council Colerne Parish Council Grittleton Parish Council Luckington Parish Council Nettleton Parish Council North Wraxall Parish Council Sopworth Parish Council First Bristol & First Somerset and Avon South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach Company South Gloucestershire Cycle Forum South Gloucestershire Parish Forum Avon Local Councils Association Parish Charter Working Group Rockhampton Parish Council Development Land & Planning Consultants Ltd South Gloucestershire CPRE RPS Planning Phillips Planning and Development Alder King Avon Wildlife Trust Thornbury Green Belt Campaign Heron Land Developments Ltd Hanham District Green Belt Conservation Society Olveston Parish Village Design Statement Team White Young Green CSJ Planning Consultants LTD South Gloucestershire Senior Citzens Forum LA Forum (Thornbury Group, Avon Wildlife Trust, speaker) The Barton Willmore Planning Partnership - Western Peacock & Smith The Greenfield Charitable Trust Savills McCarthy and Stone Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council Doynton Parish Council Dyrham and Hinton Parish Council CPRE National Office The Gypsy Council - European and UK office Alkington Parish Council Ham and Stone Parish Council Hillesley and Tresham Parish Council Kingswood Parish Council North Nibley Parish Council Transport 2000 GVA Grimley

All South Gloucestershire Council members also received the letter via email, in addition to a number of officers. Appendix 3 Regulation 25 letter sent to omitted statutory stakeholders 27th October 2007 Date: Your Ref: Our Ref: Enquiries to: Ben McGee Telephone: 01454 863572 Fax: 01454 86 Internet: [email protected]

Dear Sir/Madam

Statement of Community Involvement - Early Consultation (Regulation 25)

A key feature of the new system that was introduced in 2004 is that local planning authorities in preparing its portfolio of LDF documents involve the community early and upfront in their preparation. To enable this to take place a feature of the new system is that local planning authorities need to produce a ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ (SCI).

South Gloucestershire Council is currently preparing its draft SCI to be considered by cabinet in December with a view to going out to a full public consultation under Regulation 26 in January.

In June 2006 the Council wrote to statutory consultees and stakeholders under Regulation 25 to request early comment as to how they would like to see the SCI written. Due to an oversight on our behalf however, several statutory consultees, of which your organisation is one, were omitted and were not consulted at that time. Please accept my apologies for this occurrence.

The purpose of this letter therefore is to request under Regulation 25 any comments that you might have as to how the South Gloucestershire SCI should be produced and written. I have enclosed a hard copy of a questionnaire that was sent originally put on our website for completion during July, August and September. Please could you forward any comments that you may have and/or the completed questionnaire to me by Friday November 24th 2006. This will then allow the Council to consider your comments before the draft SCI is put out to public consultation. Please send comments to: Ben McGee Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council Thornbury Council Offices Castle Street Thornbury BS35 1HF

Email: [email protected] Tel: 01454 863572

Yours faithfully

Ben McGee Planning Policy Officer Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council

Recipients of this letter:

Date: 21 August 2007 Your Ref: Our Ref: Enquiries to: Ben McGee Telephone: 01454 863572 Fax: 01454 86 Internet: [email protected]

Dear Sir/Madam

Statement of Community Involvement – Early Consultation (Regulation 25)

South Gloucestershire Council is currently preparing its draft SCI to be considered by cabinet in December with a view to going out to a full public consultation under Regulation 26 in January.

The purpose of this letter therefore is to request under Regulation 25 any comments that you might have as to how the South Gloucestershire SCI should be produced and written. I have enclosed a hard copy of a questionnaire that was sent originally put on our website for completion during July, August and September. Please could you forward any comments that you may have and/or the completed questionnaire to me as soon as possible. This will then allow the Council to consider your comments before the draft SCI is put out to public consultation. Please send any comments to: Ben McGee Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council Thornbury Council Offices Castle Street Thornbury BS35 1HF

Email: [email protected] Tel: 01454 863572

Yours faithfully

Ben McGee Planning Policy Officer Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council

Recipients of this letter:

• Aylburton Parish Council • Didmarton Parish Council • Tidenham Parish Council Appendix 5 Regulation 26 Consultation Notification letter sent Tuesday 9th January 2007

Date: Enquiries to: Ben McGee Telephone: 01454 863572 Fax: 01454 863166 Internet: [email protected]

Dear Sir/Madam

Consultation on the Draft Statement of Community Involvement

As you may be aware, a new planning system was introduced in 2004 in which ‘Local Plans’ have been replaced by ‘Local Development Frameworks’. The Local Development Framework is a collection of planning documents that set out the Council’s policies and proposals for the development and use of land.

A key feature of the new system is that local planning authorities involve the community early in the preparation of planning documents. To enable this to take place a feature of the new system is that local planning authorities need to produce a ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ (SCI).

During the latter half of 2006 we undertook some early community involvement exercises to see how best people thought we should write the SCI. We received many useful comments and have used these in preparing the first draft of the SCI (copy enclosed with this letter). This ‘Draft SCI’ is now open to a full public consultation for a period of six weeks from Friday January 12th until Friday February 23rd. We would like you to look at the draft SCI and give us your comments on any way in which you think it could be improved.

Further copies of the SCI can be viewed at the following locations during normal opening hours:

• Thornbury One-Stop-Shop, Castle Street Council Offices • Kingswood One-Stop-Shop, Civic Centre, High Street • Yate One-Stop-Shop, leisure centre • All South Gloucestershire libraries

Alternatively you can telephone 01454 863469 and we can post a copy to you.

As part of our drive to make consultation on planning issues more accessible and efficient, South Gloucestershire Council has introduced a new internet- based consultation system. This follows on from the success and positive feedback received by users of our well established on-line website for planning application consultations. By using the new internet based consultation system, people can quickly and easily respond to consultations on-line. This system will also allow us to analyse consultation responses faster and more accurately, thus reducing the amount of time and resources it takes to respond to consultations and to produce policy documents. It also means using less paper, so it is more environmentally friendly too. We would therefore be grateful if you would consider using the on-line system as your preferred means to make your comments about the draft SCI.

You can log on at the following web address: consultations.southglos.gov.uk (note there is no www. as a prefix) where you will need to register (if you haven’t already done so) and follow the links to ‘Draft Statement of Community Involvement’. Then you can either use the ‘structured document’ to make comments on individual sections of the SCI, or you can view the full document and then fill out the electronic response form. More instructions are available on the website.

Of course you can also make comments in other ways. Letters can be sent to:

Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council Thornbury Council Offices Castle Street Thornbury BS35 1HF

The electronic response form on the website can also be printed out and then completed by hand and posted to the same address (one form per comment).

Comments can also be emailed to [email protected]

All comments, whether received electronically or in hard copy, will be treated exactly the same. Please always make sure to state which part of the draft SCI your comment relates to and what change(s) you would like to see made. If you make your comments electronically, we would prefer not to be sent the same duplicate comments in hard copy format.

However you choose to respond please ensure we receive your response by 5pm Friday 23rd February 2006. We will do our best to accommodate late responses but we cannot guarantee this. Representations may be accompanied by a request to be notified at a specified address that the SCI has been submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination and/or of the adoption of the SCI.

We will use the comments that we receive to update the draft SCI. The SCI will then be subject to a further six week round of public consultation. We expect this to be in summer 2007. If you require any help in using the on-line consultation system, or if you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to telephone me on 01454 863572, or email me – [email protected]

Yours faithfully

Ben McGee Planning Policy Officer Spatial Planning Team South Gloucestershire Council

Recipients of letter: Yate Youth Council Yate Volunteer Link, Volunteer Centre Yate Yate Town Council Yate Community Association Woodland Trust Women's National Commissions Winterbourne Parish Council Winterbourne & District Community Association Wiltshire County Council Willis & Co Wildlife Trust Wickwar Parish Council Wick and Abson Parish Council White Young Green Planning Westward Travel Western Power Distribution Westerleigh Parish Council West of England Learning and Skills Council Wessex Water Wales & West Utilities Volunteer Centre Thornbury Virgin Trains University of the West of England Faculty of Built Environment University of the Third Age UK Rainwater Harvesting Association Tytherington Parish Council Traveller Law Reform Coalition Travel Watch South West Transport 2000 Traffic Commission Tortworth Parish Council Tormarton Parish Council Tidenham Parish Council Thornbury Town Council Thornbury Green Belt Campaign Thornbury FM Thornbury & District Community Association The Willow Tree Centre The Wildlife Trust The Theatres Trust The Road Haulage Association Limited The Ridings High School The National Trust The National Farmers Union The Highways Agency The Gypsy Council The Greenfield Charitable Trust The Green Party The Grange School and Sports College The Environmental Dimension Partnership The Crown Estate The Countryside Agency The Coal Authority The Clocktower Association The Children's Society The Care Forum The British Wind Energy Association The British Horse Society The Bristol Cultural Development Partnership The Barton Willmore Planning Partnership Tetlow King Planning Terence O'Rourke Swedia Networks Swainswick Parish Council Surf Telecom Ltd Strutt and Parker Stroud District Council Strategic Land Partnership Stoke Gifford Parish Council Stewart Ross Associates St Catherine Parish Council Sport England Southwold Ramblers Southern Brooks Community Partnership South West Regional Assembly South West RDA South West Planning Aid South West Housing Body South Gloucestershire Senior Citizens Forum South Gloucestershire PCT South Gloucestershire Parish Forum South Gloucestershire Internal Drainage Board South Gloucestershire CPRE South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach Company Soundwell College Sopworth Parish Council Sodbury Town Council Siston Parish Council Sir Bernard Lovell Secondary School Showmen's Guild of Great Britain Severnside Ramblers Severn Vale Webpoints Severn Trent Water Ltd Seabank Power Ltd Savills Saltford Parish Council Safer South Gloucestershire RSPB RPS Planning Rockhampton Parish Council Road Haulage Association Ridgewood Community Association Regen South West Rangeworthy Parish Council Ramblers Association Rail Track Great Western Race Equality Network (South Gloucestershire) Quartet Community Foundation Quarry Products Association Pucklechurch Parish Council Pucklechurch Community Association Public Art South West Pro Planning Planning Potential Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council Phillips Planning and Development Philip Brown Associates Peacock & Smith Patchway Town Council Patchway Community College Parish Charter Working Group Page Community Association Outdoor Advertising Council Orange Olveston Parish Village Design Statement Team Olveston Parish Council Oldland Parish Council Oldbury Power Station Visitor Centre Oldbury on Severn Parish Council Office of Government Commerce O2 NTL Telewest Northavon Green Party Northavon Friends of the Earth Northavon Conservative Association North Wraxall Parish Council North Wiltshire District Council North Stoke Parish Council North Somerset Council North Nibley Parish Council NHS Southwest New Earth Solutions LTD Network Rail Western Region Network Rail Nettleton Parish Council Natural England National Playing Fields Association National Gypsy Council National Grid Company PLC National Grid National Farmers Union Monmouthshire County Council Mobile Operators Association Ministry of Defence Mike's Travel Metropolis Planning and Design LLP McCarthy and Stone Marshfield Parish Council Marlwood Secondary School Marine and Fisheries Agency Mangotsfield Secondary School Mangotsfield Rural Parish Council Luckington Parish Council LS21 Forum (B R Rentals (formerly Budget Rent A Car) LPC Ltd LPC Ltd LPC (Trull) Ltd Longwell Green Community Association Little Sodbury Parish Council Learning and Skills Council LA21 Steering Group (South Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth) LA21 Steering Group (Friends of Leap Valley) LA21 Steering Group (Concern for the Environment) LA21 Steering Group (Bristol YMCA & Kingswood Youth Groups) LA21 Forum Steering Group (Friends of leap Valley) LA21 Forum (all 146 member organisations and individuals) Kingswood Ramblers Kingswood Parish Council Kingswood Conservative Association Kingswood Community Association Kingswood and District Business Partnership Kingston Infrastructure Kingsfield Secondary School King Edmund Community School Keynsham Town Council Jones Day Iron Acton Parish Council Irish Travellers Movement in Britain Inter Route Institute of Directors Humberfs (GH) Housing Corporation South West Horton Parish Council Home Builders Federation Hoddell Associates Hillesley and Tresham Parish Council Hill Parish Meeting Highway Drainage Heron Land Developments Ltd Henbury and Brentry Community Council Help the Aged Health and Safety Executive Hawkesbury Vision Project Hawkesbury Parish Council Hanham Parish Council Hanham High School Hanham District Green Belt Conservation Society Hanham Abbots Parish Council Ham and Stone Parish Council Gypsy Council for health, Education and Welfare GVA Grimley Grittleton Parish Council Government Office for the South West Gloucestershire County Council Fusion On Line Limited Fulford Land & Planning Friends, Families & Travellers Friends of the Moat Friends of the Earth Friends of Leap Valley Friends of Cock Road Ridge Freight Transport Association (FTA) Frampton Cotterell Parish Council Frampton Cotterell Conservation Group Forestry Commission Forestry Authority Forest of Dean Council Forest of Avon First Great Western Trains First Bristol & First Somerset and Avon Filton Town Council Filton People Filton High School Filton College Federation of Small Businesses Farming and Countryside Education Falfield Parish Council Equal Opportunities Commission Environmental Link Group (all 40 member oganisations and individuals) Environment Agency English Welsh and Scottish Railway English Partnerships English Heritage Emersons Green Community Association Easynet Telecom Ltd Dyrham and Hinton Parish Council Doynton Parish Council Downend Secondary School Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council Dodington Parish Council DMS TOWN PLANNING LTD Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee Disability Rights Commission Didmarton Parish Council Development Planning Partnership Development Plan UK Development Land & Planning Consultants Ltd Destination Bristol Department of Work and Pensions Department of Health Department of Constitutional Affairs Department for Transport Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Department for Education and Skills Department for Culture Media & Sport Defence Procurement Agency David James & Partners Cyclists Touring Club Cycle Forum CVS South Gloucestershire CSJ Planning Consultants LTD Cruse Bereavement Care Cromhall Parish Council Crime Concern CPRE National Office Country Landowners Association Cotwolds District Council Cotswolds Conservation Board Connexions West of England Confederation of British Industry Community Action Commission for Racial Equality Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment Colt Communications Colliers CRE Colerne Parish Council Cold Ashton Parish Council Clerk to Frampton Cotterell Youth Council Civil Aviation Authority Churches Council for Industry and Social Responsibility Church Commissioners Chris Thomas Ltd Chipping Sodbury Secondary School Children's Society Chase and Kings Forest Community Project Charlcombe Parish Council Charfield Parish Council Centre for Sustainable Energy Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Central Networks Services Ltd CB Richard Ellis Castle Secondary School Campaign for Dark Skies Cable & Wireless Global UK Byways and Bridleways Trust Business West South Gloucestershire Business West Bristol BS17 Voluntary Link British Wind Energy Association British Waterways British Trust for Conservation Volunteers British Telecom Group Plc British Telecom British Motorcyclist Federation British Horse Society British Geological Survey British Chemical Distributors and Traders Association Bristol Water Bristol Regional Environment Records Centre Bristol International Airport Bristol Cultural Development Partnership Bristol City Council Brimsham Green Secondary School Bradley Stoke Town Council Bradley Stoke Community School Boyer Planning BNET Black Development Agency Bitton Parish Council Batheaston Parish Council Bath and North East Somerset Council Barton Willmore Bangladesh Association Badminton Parish Council Aylburton Parish Council Avonlea Court Residents Association Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority Avon Wildlife Trust Avon Valley Partnership Avon Local Councils Association Avon Fire and Rescue Services Avon Federation of Women's Institute Avon and Somerset Constabulary Aust Parish Council Arts Council, England (South West) Alveston Parish Council Almondsbury Parish Council Alkington Parish Council Alder King Age Concern Acton Turville Parish Council Appendix 7 Press Notice placed in South Gloucestershire Gazette 11/01/07 Appendix 8 Press feature as printed in the Bristol Evening Post Appendix 9 Press Feature as printed in South Gloucestershire Gazette 25/1/07 England Statement of Community Birmingham

Wales West Midlands Region Involvement Gloucester Bristol Channel Newport South Gloucestershire Cardiff Swindon London

Bristol Pre-Submission Bath South East Region South West Region Southampton Exeter Bournemouth Consultation Statement Plymouth

rn e v e S r e iv R Thornbury 8 3 A

5 M 03 4 A M 4 8

4 M 33 A4

M 6 4 4 9 A

M 4 432 5 A Yate M

8 8 1 0 3 4 A A 2 3 A4 2 4 174 3 A M A 4 M4 1 7 4

Kingswood 6 Bristol 4 A 0 A420 A42 A420

A4 31