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Agenda item
Local Plan Communications Strategy
(Director of Planning & Economic Development) To consider the attached report (LPC-010-2012/13).
Decision:
(1) That the Local Plan Communications Strategy be noted as a dynamic document to be updated when necessary to meet the requirements of the Local Plan consultations;
(2) That Appendix 2 of the Local Plan Communications Strategy be amended to include the groups that the Council was already actively engaged with in respect of the Local Plan; and
(3) That the updated Local Plan Communications Strategy be agreed.
Minutes:
The Assistant Director of Planning & Economic Development (Policy & Conservation) presented a report on the updated Local Plan Communications Strategy.
The Assistant Director reminded the Cabinet Committee that an early version of the Local Plan Communications Strategy had been approved as the Local Development Framework (LDF) Communications Strategy by the LDF Cabinet Committee in November 2010. Since then the Council had consulted on the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), that set out the minimum consultation methods the Council would be required to undertake during the preparation of Local Plan. The Local Plan Cabinet Committee had approved the SCI in February 2012 to go to the Council meeting in April for adoption.
The Assistant Director reported that many recommendations and feedback received as a result of the SCI consultation between July and October 2012 were more relevant to the Communications Strategy and had been incorporated in the current draft document. The Strategy set out an approach for ongoing engagement with key stakeholders and interested parties, including the community, during the preparation of the Council’s new Local Plan. The Communications Strategy outlined the engagement methods used for the Local Plan consultations to date. In looking forward, it also identified the previously successful approaches to continue with and additional methods of engagement and issues that should be resolved. The main aim was to provide an array of methods by which stakeholders could engage with the Council and for the Council to maximise the representations received during the preparation of the Local Plan.
The Assistant Director added that a series of principles of engagement had been developed, based on experience to date and best practice, aimed at providing clarity to stakeholders of the Council’s intentions when performing consultations on the Local Plan, and to ensure a consistent approach was adopted. For the forthcoming Preferred Options consultation, it was intended to invest more in Public Relations with a greater emphasis on early engagement with local newspapers. Advertisement campaigns would also be a key focus. In addition to the engagement methods utilised for the Community Choices consultation, other methods might also be employed. These included better use of the Forester magazine, including a special edition to inform and engage with residents; a summary document of the Preferred Options accompanying the letter informing consultees of the consultation launch; area focused consultation activities, such as local workshops or community presentations, for directly affected communities; and detailed briefing packs to enable Town and Parish Councils and other groups to carry out their own detailed consultation event on the preferred options.
The Planning Portfolio Holder also stated that it was intended to invite the District’s Members of Parliament and County Councillors to future Member workshops, of which a further two were already being planned. The Portfolio Holder intended to create a test group for the Preferred Options website to avoid the problems that had occurred with the Community Choices website. Consideration was also being given about how to provide residents with interim updates on the Local Plan.
It was suggested that bodies such as Transport for London, the Fire Service, the Ambulance Service and Sport for England should be added to the list of Local Plan Consultees at Appendix 2 of the draft Local Plan Communications Strategy. The Director of Planning & Economic Development responded that the highlighted Appendix contained the national list of compulsory consultees, the Council had a larger list of groups that it was already actively engaged with and this would be added to the Strategy.
Decision:
(1) That the Local Plan Communications Strategy be noted as a dynamic document to be updated when necessary to meet the requirements of the Local Plan consultations;
(2) That Appendix 2 of the Local Plan Communications Strategy be amended to include the groups that the Council was already actively engaged with in respect of the Local Plan; and
(3) That the updated Local Plan Communications Strategy be agreed.
Reasons for Decision:
Effective communication was key in order to engage successfully with stakeholders, particularly with the general public where consultation fatigue and previous negative consultation experiences could act as a barrier. The Local Plan Communications Strategy would allow for more clarity and transparency in the Council’s approach to community and wider stakeholder engagement.
Other Options Considered and Rejected:
To not approve the Local Plan Communications Strategy and rely on the Statement of Community Involvement should it be adopted by the Council in April 2013.
Supporting documents: