Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Consultation Statement for Pre-Submission Local Plan (Including main issues raised through consultation on the Draft Local Plan in September – November 2019 and responses to them, together with arrangements for consultation on the Pre-Submission Local Plan) March 2021 Contents 1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Local Plan Timescales ......................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Issues and Options ........................................................................................................ 2 3.0 Draft Local Plan Consultation ......................................................................................... 4 Who was consulted? ............................................................................................................ 4 Consultation Material and Methods ...................................................................................... 5 Letters ............................................................................................................................... 5 Posters ............................................................................................................................. 5 Summary leaflets .............................................................................................................. 6 Exhibitions ........................................................................................................................ 6 Other Briefing Sessions .................................................................................................. 11 Local News Media .......................................................................................................... 13 Electronic consultation .................................................................................................... 13 Council staff .................................................................................................................... 14 Councillor information ..................................................................................................... 14 Submission of comments ................................................................................................... 14 Via the consultation portal .............................................................................................. 14 Overview of comments received ........................................................................................ 15 4.0 Pre-Submission Local Plan consultation arrangements ................................................... 17 Electronic consultation .................................................................................................... 17 Viewing consultation documents - Gateway ................................................................... 18 Letters ............................................................................................................................. 18 Posters ........................................................................................................................... 18 Local News Media .......................................................................................................... 18 Submission of comments ................................................................................................ 19 5.0 Next Steps ....................................................................................................................... 20 6.0 Appendices for Part One .................................................................................................. 21 Appendix 1: Draft Local Plan Consultation 2019 – Consultation letters sent out for the original and extended consultation period .......................................................................... 22 Appendix 2: Draft Local Plan Consultation 2019 - Posters for the original and extended consultation period ............................................................................................................. 28 Appendix 3: Draft Local Plan Consultation 2019 - Feature in Local Magazine Autumn 2019 (pull-out summary leaflet) ................................................................................................... 31 Appendix 4: Draft Local Plan Consultation 2019 - Public notices placed in local newspapers for the original and extended consultation period ........................................... 37 Appendix 5: Pre-Submission Consultation 2021 - Feature in Local Magazine March 202141 Part 2: Consideration of responses to the Draft Local Plan consultation in September – November 2019 ..................................................................................................................... 43 Part 1 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The first part (Part 1) of this Statement sets out the consultation procedures to date in relation to the preparation of the Tunbridge Wells Local Plan, including previous consultations on Issues and Options (Regulation 18) and, more specifically, on the Draft Local Plan (also under Regulation 18), as well as the consultation arrangements proposed for the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Local Plan. 1.2 The second part of the Statement (Part 2) sets out the main issues raised in responses received to the consultation on the Draft Local Plan and its accompanying Sustainability Appraisal document, which took place between the 20 September and 15 November 2019, how the Council has taken account of those in the preparation of its next, ‘Pre-Submission’, version of the Local Plan. 1.3 It is noted that the Council has recently, in 2020, reviewed its ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ (SCI) which sets out how the Council will involve the community in the preparation and review of planning policy for the borough, through the Local Plan and Supplementary Planning Documents, and in decision making on planning applications. In part, this has been to make provision for exceptional circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic (see the Statement of Community Involvement 2020 here). 1.4 The Council has also worked closely with a wide range of agencies and bodies in preparing the Local Plan. In particular, it has actively engaged with all of its neighbouring authorities within Kent and East Sussex, as well as undertaken extensive liaison with Kent County Council (notably as its role as the minerals and waste, local highway and education authority), and infrastructure providers. Details of the cooperation with neighbouring councils and other bodies on strategic matters, such as housing, economic development, infrastructure and the environment, are set out in the Council’s ‘Duty to Cooperate Statement'. 1.5 In addition, the Council has also worked closely with Parish Councils, including their Neighbourhood Plan groups where they are preparing neighbourhood development plans (NDP). Further information on the relationship between the Local Plan and neighbourhood plans is set out in Section 4 at Policy STR 10: Neighbourhood Plans of the Pre-Submission Plan, as well as on the Council’s website under Neighbourhood Plans. Local Plan Timescales 1.6 The Draft Local Plan (see the Consultation Draft Local Plan (Regulation 18) September 2019 here), to which this Consultation Statement primarily relates, was the second of three stages in preparing the new Local Plan. The first stage was the publication of the Issues and Options document (see the Local Plan Issues and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Page Consultation Statement for Pre-Submission Local Plan 1 of 46 Date of publication – March 2021 Options document here) in the summer of 2017, for public consultation. The final stage of preparation is the Pre-Submission Version Local Plan, which will be consulted upon for a ten-week period from 26 March to 4 June 2021. Figure 1 below sets out the various stages of producing the Local Plan. Figure 1: Local Plan timescales 1.7 Full details of the Local Plan timetable are set out in the Local Development Scheme (LDS) Local Development Scheme. This LDS is/will be updated as the Plan progresses. 2.0 Issues and Options 2.1 The Issues and Options consultation was the first borough-wide public consultation undertaken by the Council with regard to the preparation of the new Local Plan. The public consultation took place over a period of six weeks between Tuesday 2 May and Monday 12 June 2017 and was carried out in accordance with Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. 2.2 The Issues and Options consultation document included the following: 1. A set of draft objectives for the new Local Plan that give an indication of the expected scope of the Plan’s Strategy. 2. Identification of the main issues and challenges relevant to future development in the borough which will be addressed in the new Local Plan, based on seven themes: 1. Natural and Built Environment, 2. Infrastructure, 3. Housing, 4. Economy, 5. Transport and Parking, 6. Leisure and Recreation and 7. Sustainability 3. Five potential strategy options for the distribution of new development within the borough, together with commentary on the implications of each. 2.3 The main purposes of the consultation were: to publicise the preparation of a new Local Plan, seek early views from a wide cross-section of the community and stakeholders on what the Local Plan should seek to achieve over the plan period,
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