Local Development Framework/Consultation Exercise - Verbal Update
Minutes:
The Head of Planning and Regeneration gave the Board an update on the preparation for the Core Strategy, including the 12 week consultation period which had ended in May 2011. In excess of 3,500 representations had been received and the Head of Planning and Regeneration explained to Members how these had been dealt with by Officers. This included a detailed table being created which would be available to the public, on the Council’s website from November 2011. However, Members were able to have sight of this immediately by contacting the Strategic Planning Manager. Members commented that the format of the table was cumbersome and those that had already received an electronic version had difficulty in viewing all the information. The Head of Planning and Regeneration agreed to take this up with officers and have the format modified if necessary.
The information in the table would be fed through the Local Development Framework Working Party (LDF), which had a set membership. However, for the purpose of the Core Strategy, which had district wide implications, there was an “open door” policy to the LDF and the programme of dates for specific areas to be discussed had been published in advance to enable all Members to attend these informal meetings. It was expected that following these meetings and the collation of further information received from these meetings, the document would be formally presented to Cabinet in November 2011 and a further report prepared for Cabinet in January 2012 to discuss the next stages of consultation.
The Board discussed the following issues in more detail:
· Staffing capacity and funding available, to deal with the extra work involved in preparing the document.
· The number and type of responses received.
· The contrast in the number of responses dependant upon the area of the district.
The Head of Planning and Regeneration informed Members that, if required, she or a member of her team would be willing to join Ward Members in the community to give presentations if appropriate. The Head of Planning and Regeneration provided examples of where this had happened and how useful this could be for those concerned.