Agenda item

Questions and answer session for members of the public

Minutes:

Mr Sean Carter, Chairman of the North Loose Neighbourhood Planning Forum, asked the following question of the Chairman regarding agenda item 18 – North Loose Neighbourhood Development Plan:

 

“The process to produce this plan started in May 2012, first of all to have an agreed Designated Neighbourhood Area and then to become a Neighbourhood Planning Forum.  Therefore we have spent 3.5 years and literally thousands of volunteer hours putting this plan together.

 

We now have an officer's report with their opinions which no doubt Councillors will take note of. 

 

Why is it that the people who actually compiled the Neighbourhood Plan have no involvement with this meeting and have no chance to answer questions from the Councillors?”

 

The Chairman responded as follows:

 

“The Neighbourhood Plan preparation process is controlled by the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 and includes two major consultation phases:

 

Regulation 14 requires the draft Neighbourhood Plan to be consulted on for at least six weeks and this is a process managed by the appropriate Parish Council or Neighbourhood Forum.  Typically, the Borough Council assists this process with printing and notices, and informal comments from the Policy Team.

 

At this stage, changes can be made to the substantive content of the Neighbourhood Plan, and Borough Council officers frequently suggest changes and amendments with regard to what are appropriate planning matters, the process to be followed and other relevant issues. 

 

At consultation phase, the Parish Council prepares the formal submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with the 2012 Regulations, which is commonly known as “the Regulation 15 submission”.

 

The Borough Council is then required, under Regulation 16, to undertake a six week statutory public consultation and is responsible for the management of that process.  This is also the stage where the Borough Council makes its own representation on the Neighbourhood Plan which is taken to committee for Member approval for onward submission to the independent Examiner.

 

The Borough Council is acting, at this stage, as a consultee in the same way as any other institution or individual, and its response must follow the same guidelines as for the Examiner.  That is, the Neighbourhood Plan is tested for its adherence to the basic conditions laid down by statute and supported by the National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 065 of the Guidance).

 

Notwithstanding all previous involvement with the Neighbourhood Plan, the report to committee assesses whether, in the Borough Council’s view, the Plan conforms with the Regulations.  If Members approve the report, it passes to the Examiner without further amendment, together with all other representations made during the consultation.  The Examiner then considers all the representations made, and the Plan itself, and produces a report suggesting amendments where she/he thinks fit and, if appropriate, recommending that the Plan proceeds to a referendum.

 

The committee report is effectively an objective assessment of whether the Neighbourhood Plan satisfies the basic conditions for a Neighbourhood Plan, as submitted.  The Examiner’s role is to assess the appropriateness of all representations made, including the Borough Council’s, and no further amendment of the committee report is possible although any Members’ discussion will form part of the submission of the representation to the Examiner.” 

 

The Chairman added:

 

“Under the new regime of governance we now operate under, quite simply, there is nothing provided for in the constitution that we have now adopted to allow members of the public to actually speak at committee meetings.  Previously, under the other system, there were different stages of Overview and Scrutiny before decisions were made where there was some degree of flexibility, but currently the constitution does not have any statutory provision.”

 

Mr Carter asked the following supplementary question:

 

“Just hearing what you are saying, where the public has no involvement, I just wonder where democracy comes into it”

 

The Chairman responded as follows:

 

“I think the process is clearly laid out and perhaps the democracy that we are now applying is the consequence of the democratic process to changes to the governance system we now operate within.”