Draft Statement of Community Involvement

Hertfordshire County Council

Draft Statement of Community Involvement

-Hertfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework; and

-The Planning Application Process for the control of minerals and waste development and development required for County Council services

March 2005

County Development Unit, Hertfordshire County Council, Telephone: 01992 556227

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword......

1...... Introduction

2...... What is the purpose of participation?

2.1 Aims and objectives......

2.2 Key issues for stakeholders......

2.3 Key issues for Hertfordshire County Council......

PART A – Hertfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework

3. Statement of Community Involvement requirements and the Minerals and Waste Development Framework

4...... Who are the stakeholders?

5...... Strategy for minerals and waste development framework

5.1 Introduction......

5.2When can you have your say?......

6...... Other Community Involvement Initiatives

6.1Integration with council planning and operations......

6.2 Integration with community plans and strategies......

PART B – Development Control and the Planning Application Process

7. Statement of Community Involvement Requirements and the Application Process

7.1 Overview......

7.2Advertisements......

7.3Site notices......

7.4Neighbour consultations......

7.5Other consultees......

7.6Other consultation / engagements......

7.7Development Control Committee......

8...... Strategy for the Planning Application Process

PART C – Programme, Resources and Review

9...... Programme and Resources

10.Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms......

References......

Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms......

Appendix 1 – Legal Requirements and Plan Making......

Appendix 2 – Stakeholders......

Appendix 3 – IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum and Toolbox......

Appendix 4 – Code of Practice for Planning Applications......

Appendix 5 – Minerals and Waste Development Scheme Gantt Chart – Statement of Community Involvement Activities

Appendix 6 – Format for Detailed Community Engagement Strategy....

Foreword

INSERT INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW

This draft Statement of Community Involvement is publicly available from the County Council or via the council’s website:

Once approved, the Statement of Community Involvement will be the document which the public can use to find out how the County Council plans to engage with the community in both preparation of strategy documents and in the planning application and approvals process. It will be subject to one period of formal comment from the public and to independent examination. If you would like to comment on the Statement of Community Involvement please send any comments to:

Julie Reeve, Team Leader: Minerals and Waste Policy

County Development Unit, Environment Department

County Hall, Hertford, Herts SG13 8DN

Tel 01992 556227 / Fax 01992 556202

e-mail:

Introduction

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which came into force on 28 September 2004, has introduced a fundamental review of the planning system, including the introduction of a new development plan framework. This means that the previous development plan documents, which, for Hertfordshire, comprised the Structure Plan, the Minerals Local Plan, the Waste Local Plan and the adopted district local plans will be replaced by a new suite of development plan documents.

The new system will comprise:

Planning Policy Statements, published by the government, setting out national policy;
The Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England, produced by the Regional Planning Body (the East of England Regional Assembly), which sets out the broad development strategy for the region;
Local Development Frameworks, prepared by local councils for each of the district/borough areas in the county, which set out the core strategy and planning proposals at the local level;
Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks, prepared by the County Council, which set out the core strategy and planning policies for minerals and waste in the county.

Each local development framework, including minerals and waste development frameworks, will consist of a number of interrelated development documents rather than a single document. The Development Framework is effectively a folder of documents, comprising:

development plan documents that are part of the statutory development plan;
the local development scheme, which is a public statement of the local planning authority's programme for the production of local development documents. For authorities such as Hertfordshire, who are the minerals and waste planning authority, this will be known as the minerals and waste development scheme;
the statement of community involvement, which sets out the local planning authority's policy for involving the community in the preparation and revision of local development documents and planning applications;
the annual monitoring report;
supplementary planning documents which expand on policies set out in a development plan document or provide additional detail.

The development frameworks, together with the regional spatial strategy, provides the essential framework for planning in the local authority's area.

This Statement of Community Involvement must set out our policy for involving the community in:

the preparation and revision of local development documents relating to policy for minerals and waste planning (see Part A of this document), and
considering planning applications for which we are the planning authority (i.e. all planning applications relating to mineral extraction and waste management as well as development for County Council services such as schools, libraries and roads – see Part B of this document).

This Statement of Community Involvement sets out who, how and when we will seek community involvement, how feedback will be given and also outlines the programme and resource implications arising from the consultation activities – See Part C of this document.

Planning affects everyone and all those involved in the system have a role to play in delivering effective and inclusive planning that happens in the right place at the right time. For development to be sustainable, the community needs to be involved with developing the vision for their area and in the implementation of that vision.

We are keen to ensure that all relevant organisations and members of the public are able to contribute ideas as to how that vision can be achieved and have an opportunity to comment on and be involved with the content and direction of minerals and waste planning in Hertfordshire. Good communication is therefore vital, and letting you know at the outset how we plan to do this is essential.

We plan to do a lot more than the statutory requirement for engagement with the community. In fact, the aim for our community engagement is “To involve the Hertfordshire community in preparation of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework and in the County Council’s planning application process to improve decision-making and to ensure outcomes that are sustainable and can be implemented locally”.

This document outlines how we will achieve this aim.

In developing the Statement of Community Involvement, we are required to consult with stakeholders to agree the aims, objectives and planned strategy for consultation. Your comments are sought on these components of this document. The content of this draft Statement of Community Involvement is for discussion purposes only at this stage, and will be amended to incorporate comments received.

The process for preparation of the Statement of Community Involvement is outlined in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Process for Preparation of the Statement of Community Involvement

Expected timing of adoption of the Statement of Community Involvement is as follows:

Cabinet Approval of the Draft / 18 April 2005
Public participation on the Draft / April – June 2005
Summarise responses, revise Statement of Community Involvement, liaise with Waste Planning and Aggregates Panels / July – August 2005
Cabinet Approval of submission Statement of Community Involvement / 12 September 2005
Submit to Secretary of State for approval / 26 September 2005
Community engagement / By end Nov. 2005
Agree submissions response and report to Secretary of State / By mid Dec. 2005
Independent examination and reporting / January– February 2006
Adoption / March 2006

What is the purpose of participation?

2.1 Aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of the Statement of Community Involvement should guide all public participation activities. Specific objectives for each stage of document preparation should also follow these broad directives (see Section 5 and 8).

Aim:

To involve the Hertfordshire community in preparation of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework and in the County Council’s planning application process to improve decision-making and to ensure outcomes that are sustainable and can be implemented locally.

Objectives:

Raise general awareness of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework amongst the general public and the minerals and waste industry.
Gather information and share ideas.
Encourage participation and involve the community throughout the planning process, facilitating ownership of policies, planning decisions and outcomes.
Ensure key stakeholders, including district and parish councils and other relevant government agencies, are involved in the process and that all relevant plans are integrated.
Provide sufficient information to enable useful representations and comments on draft plans and planning applications.
Provide timely and constructive feedback on representations made and demonstrate how the views have been taken into account.

2.2 Key issues for stakeholders

Some of the main issues for the minerals and waste planning process, and for planning applications decided by us, are outlined below. These are indicative only and will be revised following consultation on the draft Statement of Community Involvement.

Being involved in setting the core strategy and broad strategic direction for minerals and waste planning in Herts.
Involvement in the selection of new sites for minerals extraction and different types of waste management (e.g. transfer sites; waste separation/recycling facilities; composting facilities; incinerators (with or without energy recovery); other waste-to-energy facilities; emerging technologies such as Mechanical Biological Treatment; and landfill sites).
Ensuring that the existing quality of life for local communities is enhanced and protected as much as possible, particularly where new adjoining and alternative land uses are proposed.
Ensuring that individual views are heard and considered in the new draft Development Plan Documents, Supplementary Planning Documents and related documents (including Sustainability Appraisals).

2.3 Key issues for Hertfordshire County Council

Some of the main issues for us when incorporating the outcomes from community engagement will include:

Ensuring all relevant stakeholders are involved and that the purpose and extent of the community engagement strategy is clearly communicated.
Managing expectations about the level of involvement at different stages of the process.
Ensuring the outcomes of the engagement processes are regularly reported on and made widely available, including on our website.
Ensuring that decisions are based on knowledge, evidence, measurement and consultation.
Continual review, monitoring and evaluation of the engagement programme and community strategy to maximise effectiveness.

PART A –

Hertfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework

Statement of Community Involvement requirements and the Minerals and Waste Development Framework

There will be a need for community engagement and public participation at various stages of the development of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework, as follows:

Minerals – Core Strategy; Site Allocations and Site Specific Policies; and Supplementary Planning Documents (although the Minerals Local Plan Review and Further Modifications to be released in 2005 will, once adopted, be saved for a further 3 years and will therefore not require modification or public participation in the short term).
Waste – Core Strategy; Site Allocations and Site Specific Policies; and Supplementary Planning Documents (these documents will be prepared over the next three years and extensive public participation will be encouraged).
Combined Minerals and Waste Development Plan Documents – Development Control Policies; Proposals Map; and Annual Monitoring Report (these documents will be prepared over the next three years, or in the case of the monitoring report, every year).
Sustainability Appraisal reports will be prepared for each stage in development plan process, and must also involve extensive community engagement activities. These reports, which also incorporate Strategic Environmental Assessment requirements in line with EU legislation, aim to promote sustainable development through better integration of sustainability considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans. Sustainability Appraisal is an integral part of good plan making and a central part of the process.

Figure 3.1 – The Herts Minerals & Waste Development Framework

Who are the stakeholders?

Planning Policy Statement 12: Local Development Frameworks provides direction on who to consult when preparing new documents and this is detailed in Appendix 2. The list includes types of agencies, organisations and groups of people that must be consulted, that should be consulted and that we should consider consulting.

Consultation with affected communities and local neighbourhoods is integral to the planning process where site specific considerations are applicable. These vary depending on the plan and are generally tailored with each round of consultation.

It is also important that communities that are traditionally hardest to reach and that may have historically participated the least in minerals and waste planning are involved in the process. This may include communities dependent on services, underrepresented groups, ethnic minority groups, young people or new residents. We have already established a database of representative groups and organisations and will endeavour to actively involve these groups in all activities.

For every round of consultation we will also aim to use existing partnerships, structures and processes, including groups such as Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and those who have signed up to the Hertfordshire Compact (see Section 6 for an explanation).

As well as all those groups mentioned above, we also keep the details of all those who have responded to us on a consultation and include these people / stakeholders in any further work.

Strategy for minerals and waste development framework

5.1 Introduction

Public engagement during the production of the minerals and waste development framework is very important and we will do this at several stages of the process. There are statutory requirements for what type of engagement must take place for each of these stages, but we will also do more than is required to ensure that as many of Hertfordshire’s communities and groups are able to be involved in the process. We will use different techniques depending on the purpose of the consultation exercise. In some cases we will be looking to gather and share information and in others we will be looking for active participation or collaboration on the content and design of specific documents. More information about different consultation techniques can be found in Appendix 3.

At the end of each community engagement stage, a report will be prepared summarising all responses received, and how the issues raised will be addressed. This information will be referred to in subsequent documents, and will be made available at the County Council offices and on the website:

5.2When can you have your say?

Issues and options

The first opportunity for public engagement will take place at the ‘Issues and Options’ stage. This is the initial stage in the production of the new minerals or waste development document and the purpose of this consultation is to gather the thoughts and opinions on what the issues and options are from as many different groups, communities and stakeholders as possible as well as raising awareness of the plan.

Preferred options

This is the second opportunity for public engagement and takes place once the results from the ‘Issues and Options’ consultation have been analysed. The main purpose of public engagement at this stage is to gauge the level of support and objection to our preferred options and to identify any possible alternatives. Again, at this stage we are looking to involve as many different groups, communities and stakeholders as possible and to further raise awareness of the plan preparation.

Draft development plan document

This is the third opportunity for public involvement and this stage is public consultation about the content of the draft document. At this point, we need specific comments on the draft document and we will encourage as many different people to contribute as possible.

Examination

Once the comments from the draft development plan document have been analysed and incorporated into the new draft, an examination in public will take place. At that point we will invite all those who have provided specific comments at the previous consultation stage to be involved, as well as raising general awareness about the plan and the examination. It should be noted that the examination will test the ‘soundness’ of the plan, rather than consider individual objections to it.

Adoption

When the plan has been through all the stages mentioned above and is ready to be adopted as county council policy we will issue an Adoption Statement to ensure that as many different people as possible are aware of the adoption.

Draft supplementary planning documents

Once we have adopted the development plan document we will begin consultation on the draft supplementary planning documents. This will follow the same process as at the draft development plan stage above.

Below is a table setting out our statutory requirements for each group at each stage, the additional activity we will carry out and the timings for each.

Table 5.1 Engagement Strategy for MWDF Stages

Develop-ment Plan Stages / Consultation purpose and key objectives / Techniques for different stakeholder groups* / Timing (approx) / comments
Issues and options (including sustainability report) / Informal and continuous opportunity for public involvement. Specific objectives include:

To inform and raise awareness of the documents being prepared
To gather and share information
To confirm stakeholders to be involved at later stages
To explore the full range of issues and options and to gain an understanding of initial community preferences

/ Statutory activity: