Issue - meetings

Purpose of the report

Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 required local planning authorities to take into account any representation made to them in response to consultations undertaken in accordance with Regulation 18. The Statement of Consultation documents the February - April 2024 consultation on the Draft Local Plan and reported on the comments received.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Noted the feedback responses.

2.    Approved the Regulation 18 Draft Local Plan Statement of Consultation for publication.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The alternative of not publishing a Statement of Consultation was discounted. Failing to publish a Statement of Consultation would contravene the statutory requirements of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Reasons for the decision

The reason for the recommendation was to ensure the Council was complying with its statutory duty to consider and report on consultation comments received through the Regulation 18 Draft Local Plan consultation. Publication of the Statement also ensured that the Local Plan process was transparent.

The consultation had been published for an 8-week period in February 2024 and had sought comments on draft policies and proposed site allocations. The consultation had attracted over 2,400 comments from 794 respondents. The Regulations now required planning authorities to take account of representations made to them. The Statement of Consultation documented how the Council engaged with residents, stakeholders and others.

A new Regulation 18 consultation would be published at a later stage; those that had responded to the original consultation need not do so again. Existing comments, and any new representations would be considered as the Local Plan progressed.