OXFORD CITY COUNCIL CONSULTATION STATEMENT Oxford Local Plan 2036 March 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2 Proposed Submission Consultation Process ............................................................................... 2 Sustainability Appraisal Consultation Statement ...................................................................... 4 Preferred Options Consultation ................................................................................................. 6 Appendix 1: Statutory Consultees (specific consultation bodies and Duty to Cooperate bodies) ................................................................................................................................................ 132 Appendix 2: Additional Local Groups and Organisations Contacted Directly ........................ 134 Appendix 3: Consultation Report from First Steps Consultation 2016 ................................... 138 Appendix 4: Summary of Press and Social Media Coverage During Each Consultation Stage ................................................................................................................................................ 216 Appendix 5: Summary of Responses Relating to the Proposed Submisison Draft Local Plan and Officer Responses……………………………………………………………………..…………....Filed separately Page 1 of 221 INTRODUCTION 1. Oxford City Council is required (Regulation 22)1 to produce a Statement of Consultation to accompany the submission of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State. This statement will assist the Inspector at Examination in determining whether the Plan complies with the statutory requirements for involvement and government guidance. 2. The report demonstrates how planning officers have taken account of the public feedback to the preferred options as received during the Regulation 18 consultation, and how the proposed submission draft was shaped in response. It also summarises the responses received in consultation on the proposed submission draft Local Plan in relation to Regulation 20. 3. The report covers: (i) An overview of the Proposed Submission Draft consultation, including which bodies and persons were invited to make representations, how they were consulted, how many comments were received (ii) A summary of the main issues raised in relation to the proposed submission draft (Appendix 5); (iii) An overview of the Preferred Options (Regulation 18) consultation, including which bodies and persons were invited to make representation and how they were consulted; (iv) A summary of the received responses to the preferred options; and, (v) A summary of how the proposed submission draft was shaped in response to the public feedback at on the Preferred Options. ENGAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE LOCAL PLAN PROCESS 4. Involvement of local communities and other stakeholders from the outset in the preparation of the Local Plan has been a key priority for the council. The main stages of consultation to date on the Oxford Local Plan 2016-2036 are as follows: First Steps consultation (June - August 2016) (summarised in Appendix 3) Preferred Options (Regulation 18) consultation (30th June and 25th August 2017) Summarised in Part 4 Proposed submission consultation (1st November 2018- 13th December 2018 (extended to 28th December 2018). Summarised in Part 2 PROPOSED SUBMISSION CONSULTATION PROCESS 5. This section sets out how the City Council has complied with Regulation 20 (the Proposed Submission consultation) on public participation of a development plan document. It also summarises the representations received in response to the consultation, setting out how many representations were made and what the issues raised were. 1 Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) Page 2 of 221 6. By the time of publication of the Proposed Submission Document, the City Council had already undertaken extensive consultation during the preparation of the Plan. This involved a formal Preferred Options consultation 30th June-25th August 2017, as well as the First Steps Consultation June- August 2016. The First Steps Consultation was undertaken in addition to statutorily required consultations in order to front-load public engagement in the early preparation of the Plan. There has been a continuing a dialogue with a range of stakeholders with an interest in the Plan including landowners and organisations such as the Environment Agency (the Duty to Cooperate statement sets this out in more detail). CONSULTATION PERIOD 7. The consultation period on the Proposed Submission Document and SA Report commenced on 1st November 2018. Representations were invited initially over a six week period until 13th December 2018. This was extended subsequently to a total of eight weeks until 28th December 2018. This consultation period exceeds the requirements of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) Regulations 2012 and the City Council’s usual consultation period as identified in its Statement of Community Involvement. 8. Notice of the consultation was communicated by email and letter on 1 November 2018 to those on the City Council’s database. The Council became aware that a technical error meant that not all notifications were sent (those affected were some of the respondents to the previous consultations) so a further notification was sent on 16 November 2018. The decision was made to extend the consultation period to maximise people’s opportunity to comment. WHO WAS NOTIFIED? 9. Previous stages of consultation focused on using wide ranging and adaptable opportunities for engagement in order to maximise the numbers of people who got involved and the benefits of consultation. The Proposed Submission stage is a formal consultation period which focuses on the soundness and legal compliance aspects of the Plan. Responding to the consultation inevitably requires a greater commitment of time and effort in order to frame responses in terms of the tests of soundness/legal tests so that they are relevant to the examination. Therefore, as well as statutory consultees, those registered on the City Council’s database as having an interest in planning were key to consult. Direct notifications were sent to all those on the City Council’s database, which includes those involved in previous rounds of Local Plan consultation, statutory consultation bodies and duty to cooperate bodies (42, which are listed in Appendix 1) and residents’ associations and interest groups (approximately 250, see appendix 2). 3,849 electronic notifications were sent (this excludes notifications that were bounced back). In addition, 64 letters were sent to individuals, groups or organisations that had not provided an email address. METHODS USED TO NOTIFY OF THE PUBLICATION PERIOD 10. The publication period was publicised by a wide range of methods. Primary of these was direct notification. Notice of the consultation was also disseminated by other means, including: by notice given in “Your Oxford”, in the edition published on 29 October 2018; by press release and extensive local press coverage including through a widely reported interview with the Planning Portfolio Holder (Oxford Mail 17th October 2017) (Appendix 4); Page 3 of 221 through a launch event with the Civic Society to which local stakeholder groups were invited; through social media; through notices posted on community notice boards; through drop in events that were held in the town hall (Wednesday 7th November 4pm-7pm and Saturday 17th November 10am-1pm); through attendance by planning officers at meetings of groups such as the Oxford Preservation Trust to discussion and given guidance on how to respond to the draft Plan. RESPONSES RECEIVED 11. The City Council received 1761 comments from 319 respondents. The responses received are summarised in Appendix 5. This provides and extensive summary of the comments received, as well as an officer response to each comment. Minor modifications to the Plan have been proposed in response to some of the comments. A few comments raised concerns that the City Council has agreed could be resolved with an acceptable modification to the Plan, but these modifications would be classed as a main modification that would therefore require consideration in the Sustainability Appraisal process and further consultation. These will need to be recommended by the Inspector as necessary to make the Plan sound. SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL CONSULTATION STATEMENT 12. For completeness, this part of the statement sets out how the City Council has complied with Regulation 132 of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes 2004 with regards to the consultation on the Sustainability Appraisal Process for the Oxford Local Plan 2036. This part addresses the consultation that took place on the SA Scoping Report, the SA for the Preferred Options document (Regulation 19 consultation) and the SA Report for the Proposed Submission document. SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL SCOPING REPORT 13. Once the need for a Sustainability Appraisal has been established, the first step that is often undertaken is what is known as a Scoping Report. The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (hereafter known as ‘the SEA Regs’) do not require that a Scoping Report is produced, but where one is produced that it must be consulted upon with the ‘Consultation Bodies’ as set out in the SEA Regs. The SA Scoping Report