Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2019/072

Contact: Peter Day, Minerals Principal Officer Tel: 07392 318899

Report by Director for Planning & Place (CA10).

The County Council is required to prepare, and keep up to date, a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). The SCI is a statutory planning document that sets out how the Council will involve the community (consultees, stakeholders and other interested parties) in:

i.   preparing and reviewing the Minerals and Waste Local Plan;

ii.  making decisions on planning applications.

The current Oxfordshire SCI was adopted by the Council in March 2015.

The Council must comply with its SCI in preparing local plan documents. The Council is currently preparing the Minerals and Waste Site Allocations Plan and it is important that an up to date SCI is in place when the plan is submitted for examination. There have been some legislative changes affecting SCIs. The current SCI should therefore be reviewed before the Minerals and Waste Site Allocations Plan is published and submitted for examination.  A draft revised SCI has been prepared, with a view to carrying out public consultation on it this summer, leading to adoption of a revised SCI in December 2019.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

(a)          approve the draft revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement at Annex 1, subject to final detailed amendment and editing, as a draft for public consultation;

(b)          authorise the Director for Planning & Place to:

(i)           carry out final detailed amendment and editing of the draft revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment;

(ii)          publish the draft revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement for public consultation.

Recommendations agreed.

The County Council is required to prepare, and keep up to date, a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). The SCI is a statutory planning document that sets out how the Council will involve the community (consultees, stakeholders and other interested parties) in:

·         preparing and reviewing the Minerals and Waste Local Plan;

·         making decisions on planning applications.

Cabinet considered a report on a draft revised SCI, with a view to carrying out public consultation on it in the summer, leading to adoption of a revised SCI in December 2019.

Councillor John Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment referred to the possibility of developers taking advantage of there being no Plan in place during the submission process. He queried whether the Plan could be agreed as a protocol in advance of the formal approval. Peter Day explained the process that had to be followed in terms of site allocations and that in advance of that process the amount of weight that could be given to it in planning applications was limited.

Councillor Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment moved the recommendations.

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)          approve the draft revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement at Annex 1, subject to final detailed amendment and editing, as a draft for public consultation;

(b)          authorise the Director for Planning & Place to:

(i)            carry out final detailed amendment and editing of the draft revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment;

(ii)          publish the draft revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement for public consultation.