SP4.6 Statement of Consultation Submission Sites and Polices Plan and Policies Map September 2013 London Borough of Merton Contents Part 1 Introduction Page 1-2 Merton’s Statement of Consultation Page 1-3 Summary of consultations undertaken Page 1-4 Part 2 Summary of responses received for each consultation stage and the council's response Page 2-1 1-1 1 Introduction 1.1 This document sets out how the London Borough of Merton complied with the consultation requirements of Merton’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) 2005 and the Regulations (The Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amended) Regulations 2008) by engaging, involving and consulting with the local community, residents groups/organisation and stakeholders during the preparation of the Sites & Polices and Polices Map (part of Merton’s Local Plan). 1.2 Regulation 30(d) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 requires the local authorities to prepare a Statement of Consultation setting out: I. which bodies and persons the local planning authority were invited to make representations under regulation 25 or regulation 26, II. how those bodies and persons were invited to make representations under either of those regulations, III. a summary of the main issues raised by the representations made IV. pursuant to either of those regulations, and V. How any representations made pursuant to either of those regulations have been taken into account. 1.3 The Statement of Consultation will assist the Inspector at the Examination in Public to determining whether the Council’s Submission Sites and Polices plan; and Polices Map complies with the minimum requirements for involvement and government guidance. Merton’s Statement of Consultation (SCI) 1.4 Merton’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was adopted in 2006 and describes how the community can be involved in preparing Merton’s Local Plan. 1.5 The SCI is part of the Local Plan and sets out the council’s commitment to community involvement in planning. It explains how Merton’s local communities, residents groups/organisation, stake holders and other interested parties can be involved in developing planning documents, by informing the Council what they thought, provide additional information and suggest changes to polices/plan. The SCI .also shows how different Local Plan documents will be prepared and how the Council will notify the public about them. 1.6 Some issues raised in the SCI have changed since the SCI was adopted in 2006. For example the council now has a Facebook and Twitter page which is used as an additional method of alerting people to new press releases. Another example is that the council no longer has a dedicated community engagement officer for planning matters but uses all officers involved in plan- 1-2 making to conduct outreach consultation. These are not considered to be significant changes to the principles of the SCI. 1.7 The following table outlines the methods of consultation identified in the SCI and the methods of consultation that were utilised during the various consultation stages of the Sites and Polices Plan and Policies Map. 1.8 This statement reports on the engagement during the consultation stages, feedback from the public and the steps the Council took following the feedback; before submission of the Sites and Polices Plan; and Policies Map to the Secretary of State in 2013.. Summary of consultations undertaken 1.9 Since 2011, Merton council has been engaging with local residents, resident’s groups/organisations, developer, land owners, key stakeholders and other interested parties. Stage 1: “call for sites” (July-September 2011) 1.10 This stage was initial public consultation to ask people and organisations to suggest sites for allocation, policy issues and land designations. Following this consultation, officers assessed the responses and carried out research to inform the council’s preferred options for the sites submitted, drafted new detailed planning policies and land designations. The council’s “preferred options” for detailed planning policies, potential sites and land designations were published for comment between January and April 2012. Stage 2: ‘Planning ahead: draft Sites and Policies Plan; and Policies Map (Formally Proposal Map), preferred options” (January-March 2012, extended into May 2012) 1.11 This public consultation gave residents, landowners, community groups and other interested parties the opportunity to comment on the council’s preferred options for 20 detailed planning policies, approximately 50 sites and land designations. A large range and number of comments were received from residents, landowners, community groups and other interested parties. As part of these comments, an additional 15 sites were suggested by landowners, councillors and other interested parties. We have assessed these sites and these are published as Stage 2a. Stage 2a - “additional sites and policies and Proposals Map: preferred options continued” (June-July 2012) 1-3 1.12 This consultation gives residents, landowners, community groups and other interested parties an opportunity to have their say on three new detailed planning policies, 15 additional sites that were suggested by people and organisations at Stage 2 and some Proposals Map designations. This consultation is a continuation of the Stage 2 “preferred options” for the Sites and Policies Plan and Policies Map. 1.13 This consultation was co-ordinated to the same timescales as the draft planning brief for the Rainbow Industrial Estate in Raynes Park. Stage 3 - “Towards a final plan: draft Sites and Policies Plan and draft Policies Map (January – February 2013). 1.14 this consultation was essentially a draft of the final plan, amended from feedback received during the previous seven months of public consultation. It brought together all of the potential sites from stages 2 and 2a, together with the draft planning policies and land designations into one document. 1.15 Stage 3 was an additional two months of consultation (not required by statute) in order to ensure that people and organisations had their chance to respond to a draft of the final plan. Stage 4 pre-submission Sites and Policies; and Polices Map (July – August 2013) 1.16 This consultation gave the public, key stake holders and other interested parties a final opportunity to comment on any issues within the detailed policies, site allocations or land designations that they would like the inspector to consider at the examination of the plan. Furthermore, the public was informed of the opportunity attend the inspector hearings and were informed to notify the council if they wished to attend. How we consulted 1.17 During all stages of consultation for the Sites and Policies Plan; and Policies Map, the council used different methods of public engagement and consultation to maximise public involvement and raise pubic awareness of the Sites and Policies Plan; and Polices Map. These consultation methods included: Resident Groups/Organisation/Civic Groups/ meetings One-to-One Meetings with Selected Stakeholders Steering and Advisory Groups Access to the document(s) at Merton’s reference libraries Formal written consultation notification letters and emails to people and organisations who were involved locally or had asked to be involved (database of approximately 1700 sent at each consultation stage) Dedicated webpage on Merton Council website (update at various intervals) Responses and comments submitted made available on the councils dedicated website. 1-4 Notices and articles in trade publications Public notice in the borough’s local newspapers 1.18 More details about the range of consultation methods used are set out below. 1-5 Stage 1: “call for sites” (July-September 2011) Consultation methods Consultation methods used advised in Merton’s adopted SCI 2006 Press release: local / A local advertisement was placed in Wimbledon and Morden and trade press Mitcham Local Guardian newspaper on the 14th July 2011. A press release was issued for the local and trade press Council website or Details of the consultation was placed on the Council’s public accessible associated / relevant ‘Get involved’ consultation portal, explaining what the consultation what websites. about, how to submit comments with contact email address and telephone if there was any questions. A dedicated ‘Call for sites’ website launched at the start of the consultation with information of the consultation and the questionnaire available to download from the website. Leaflets on specific The Council produced leaflets / questionnaires for the public, land Local Plan topics owners/developers and other interested parties to suggest site(s) and land allocation for sites(s) in Merton Outreach Meetings were held with the following groups :Wimbledon Society (11 July 2011) and various landowners throughout the consultation. Due to the nature of the consultation (i.e. not having a document or site to comment on, outreach was not considered the most effective method t this stage. Direct mailing The Council sent out 908 emails and 616 letters notifying the public of the consultation. The Council publicised two telephone numbers for the public to call if Dedicated phone and e- they had any questions regarding the consultation or the document. mail Attending Area Forums No area forums took place during the consultation 1-6 Partnership meetings Partners were notified of the consultation; no partnership meetings took place during the consultation