Meeting documents

Cabinet
Tuesday, 17 October 2006

CA171006-11

Return to Agenda

Division(s): N/A

ITEM CA11

CABINET – 17 OCTOBER 2006

OXFORDSHIRE MINERALS AND WASTE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: ADOPTION OF STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Report by Head of Sustainable Development

Introduction

  1. The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is a public statement of how and when the Council will involve the community in the preparation and review of the local development documents that will make up the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework; and of how and when the Council will consult people on planning applications that are determined by the County Council.

  2. Following consideration by the Cabinet on 20 December 2005, the Council on 10 January 2006 approved the Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement and authorised the Head of Sustainable Development, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, to finalise the Statement for submission to the Secretary of State. The SCI was submitted to the Secretary of State on 22 February 2006. This report outlines the outcome of the subsequent Examination of the SCI by an Independent Inspector and invites the Cabinet to recommend to Council that the SCI be amended in accordance with the Inspector’s recommendations and adopted.

    3. Submission and Independent Examination

  3. At the same time the SCI was submitted to the Secretary of State, it was published, advertised, made available for public inspection and distributed to consultation bodies, to enable representations to be made. A copy was sent to all County Councillors. The statutory 6 week consultation period ended on 5 April 2006. A Statement of Pre-Submission Consultation and Public Participation and a representation form were also published.

  4. 117 representations on the submitted SCI were received within the 6 week period, from 36 parties (organisations or individuals). 79 representations objected to the SCI or some part of it, and 31 representations generally supported the SCI, subject to some amendments; the remaining 7 representations made no comment. 2 people expressed a wish to appear and present their case at a public examination; the remaining 34 people were happy to have their comments considered as a written representation.

  5. On 2 May 2006 the Cabinet authorised the Head of Sustainable Development, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, to respond to the representations on the Submitted SCI and to submit these responses and any other submissions that may be necessary to the Secretary of State and the Inspector appointed to hold the Independent Examination into the SCI. A Statement of Representations on the SCI Submission Document and a schedule of Representations and County Council Responses were produced in June 2006; these were submitted to the Secretary of State and the Inspector, published on the Council’s website and made available for public inspection together with the representations. The County Council Responses included a number of proposed amendments to the SCI. These 2 documents are available in the Members’ Resource Centre. The representations on the Submitted SCI are also available for inspection.

  6. The Secretary of State appointed Mary Travers BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI as the Inspector to carry out the Independent Examination of the SCI. She considered all the representations made on the Submitted SCI and held a hearing on 5 July 2006, which was attended by the 2 people who wished to appear and present their case to the Inspector. At the request of the Inspector, following the hearing, 2 further amendments to the SCI were agreed with one of the objectors and were submitted to the Inspector. These further proposed amendments are set out in an annex to the Inspector’s Report.

    7. Inspector’s Report and Amendments to SCI

  7. Under the new planning system, the Independent Examination is an assessment of the ‘soundness’ of the submitted document, based on tests set out in the Government’s Planning Policy Statement 12: Local Development Frameworks (PPS12). The starting point for the assessment is that the document is sound and therefore the Inspector only recommends changes where there is a need in the light of the tests in PPS12. But the Inspector’s Report is binding on the Council.

  8. A draft of the Inspector’s Report was received on 11 July 2006, to allow the Council to carry out a factual check. Following some minor corrections and clarifications requested by the Council, the final version of the Report was received on 17 July; this is reproduced at Annex 1 (download as .doc file). The Inspector’s Report concludes that subject to some small amendments the SCI is sound. These amendments comprise the amendments proposed by the Council and 6 additional amendments specifically recommended by the Inspector. The Inspector’s Report also says the Council should correct any typographical errors and make any factual updating amendments needed.

  9. The Inspector’s Report was considered by the Minerals and Waste Plan Working Group on 19 July 2006. It has been published on the Council’s website, made available for public inspection and a copy sent to all the people who made representations on the Submitted SCI.

  10. A schedule of amendments to the Submitted SCI as recommended in the Inspector’s Report is set out in Annex 2 (download as .doc file). A revised version of the SCI has been prepared showing the amendments recommended by the Inspector and factual corrections and updating, which is set out in Annex 3 (download as .doc file). The amendments are all of a minor nature and do not affect the main substance of the SCI. The full Council must now formally adopt the SCI as recommended by the Inspector. Therefore the Cabinet is recommended to recommend the Council adopt the SCI.

    11. Financial and Staff Implications

  11. There are no financial or staff implications beyond those already provided for in the project management of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework and in the management of the Council’s development control function.

    12. RECOMMENDATION

  12. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to RECOMMEND the Council to:

          1. formally adopt the Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement with the amendments recommended in the Inspector’s Report, July 2006, as shown in Annex 3 (download as .doc file); and

          2. authorise the Head of Sustainable Development, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, to make any further factual corrections or updating required and finalise the adopted Statement of Community Involvement for publication.

CHRIS COUSINS
Head of Sustainable Development

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Peter Day, Minerals and Waste Policy Team Leader Tel: (01865) 815544

October 2006

Return to TOP