Issue - meetings

Community Engagement on the Local Plan

Meeting: 29/07/2020 - Local Plan Leadership Group (Item 4)

4 Community Engagement on the Local Plan pdf icon PDF 335 KB

To receive the report on Community Engagement on the Local Plan.

Minutes:

The Chair asked Stephen Miles to present the report to the group.

 

Stephen Miles; The consultation and engagement of the new Local Plan would be key to its success. Officers are currently drafting a statement or community involvement and supporting engagement strategy with the aim of taking these through governance processes to be agreed in September. This report is being presented today to get the groups feedback on engagement and how to do that and incorporate your views into the engagement strategy. The paper outlines the "What, Who, When and How" and there are three discussion points at the end that members may want to use to inform discussions.

 

Cllr. Caton said he was concerned as the report reflects the old Local Plan process that suggested an issue and options consultation at the Reg 18 stage of the process. At the all member workshop, the consultation was suggested to be an ongoing conversation. He would be much more supportive of a flexible process. He highlighted the point that most of the consultation was web based and that would not reach people in the district who do not use technology everyday.

 

Stephen Miles explained that the document does consider other medium of communication such as posters and leaflets, however he said if there are any other ways to reach out, he would welcome the input to ensure the engagement is successful.

 

Cllr. Caton suggested using village magazines to circulate information.

 

Cllr. Light said as a person who doesn't use social media, she didn't want to be left out. Going back to the terms of reference, the Cllr. asked how would the development needs be met and by whom, clarity was asked for on this point. Additionally on page 9 in points 15 and 16, she asked at what point the residents could engage in the plan early on in the process.

 

On page 10, the gunning principles is a critical point and should be included in the main body of the document.

 

Stephen Miles highlighted from the all member workshop, the Peer Review Team talked about a series of interlinked conversations on a number of themes, starting early engagement without any fixed ideas to allow the community and other stakeholders to input into and shape the process. The current document didn't capture the ideas from the Peer Review Team from the recent workshop, however they should be explored.

 

Cllr Freeman said it was vital to ensure people without computers still feel comfortable commenting and will be counted.

 

Cllr Sutton suggested ward Councillors take a role in the monthly update community and parish council meetings, putting information of parish Facebook pages and parish magazines and assisting with letter writing for people who need assistance.

 

The Chair highlighted caution when offering letter writing assistance as it may appear to be steering the public.

 

Cllr. Bagnall with regards to engagement there were 61 town and parish councils across the district. We should utilise them to relay information in their own communities.

 

Cllr. Merifield supported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4