Issue - meetings

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth submitted a report that provided the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with an update on the Community Forums (CFs) and the Development Management Forums (DMFs).

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that in November 2023, she had presented the idea of having a set of CFs for strategic sites post planning approval and also a DMF during the planning application process.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that Overview and Scrutiny Committee had resolved in November 2023 that there be an update after two years to allow for the collection of meaningful data on the impact of the forums.

Members were advised that the report summarised attendance figures, operational approaches and key observations arising from both the CFs and the DMFs.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that consideration had also been given to the resource implications of hosting these forums and suggestions for further improvements and data collection were highlighted in the report.

Members of Overview and Scrutiny were invited to review the information provided and to assess the forums contribution to community engagement and planning transparency.

Councillor Buckmaster said that the community forums were informative, and he had noticed that over time the numbers attending had decreased. He wondered whether the council could reach out to the wider community to secure their involvement.

Councillor Buckmaster suggested that the council could talk directly to the neighbourhood plan group and the affected parishes to ascertain how the council could engage more with the community.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said there was a pre-meeting with the neighbourhood plan group and the parish councillors, and the council had asked them exactly that question. She said that part of the idea was reaching out to the members of the community who might not discuss things with the parish council or the neighbourhood planning group.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that some of the topics that the community might wish to raise were very specific. Members were advised that the council was working on better communications and officers were considering ways to encourage more people to engage in the process.

Councillor Carter asked how the council decided when to hold a forum meeting and who made the decisions as to when a meeting was arranged. The Executive Member for Planning and Growth explained that the district council scheduled the forum meetings, and this scheduling depended on how many issues were at stake. She explained that Gilston was having a quarterly forum as this was one of the largest developments in the country.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth referred to Stortford Fields and said that the community forum had been arranged to address a number of problems that had built up over a number of years. She said that the council was working to resolve what were some quite complicated issues. Members were advised that Stortford Fields had a meeting every 6 months and Gilston  ...  view the full minutes text for item 226