Agenda item

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said a Statement of Community Involvement, or an SCI, was an evolving document that must be updated at least every 5 years to meet the Planning and Compulsory Act 2004 (as amended). She said that an SCI simply set out how the council will consult with the public on planning matters.

Members were advised that the previous SCI was adopted in 2019, and this report sought adoption of an updated version, as detailed in Appendix A of the report. The review of the SCI provided an opportunity to update the document to align with the Council’s current priorities, policies, objectives and procedures.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the SCI aligned with the LEAF priorities in the Council’s corporate plan and the Council’s core value of being a listening council. These were both particularly pertinent to the SCI as they provided a strong focus on the Council being open and transparent whilst promoting listening and engaging with the community in a fair and inclusive way.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the updated SCI provided ways for the council to achieve that within the planning context. The update also included the changes to the constitution regarding planning matters as agreed in February 2025. She said that the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 had several implications for planning, with many details however still  to be set out via secondary legislation.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the update to the SCI reflected current knowledge of the legislation and allowed for transition to meet the new requirements once further information was released.

Members were advised that the updated SCI now aligned with the process set out in the timetable to produce the District Plan within the Council’s local development scheme.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that the main changes were set out within the report. In summary, this included more information on the principles of consultation and how the council would implement those principles within planning engagement. There would also be more details in respect of consultation methods and how digital technology maybe used within the planning consultations to help make them more accessible and efficient.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that there would be an engagement strategy template to support preparation of planning policy consultations. She said that there would be new section for neighbourhood plan reviews explaining how that process worked and how communities could get involved.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that an equalities impact assessment could be found in appendix B to the report and this assessed the impacts the updated SCI would have to different groups in the communities.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that once adopted, the SCI before Members would replace the October 2019 version and would be published on website.

Councillor Glover-Ward proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported. Councillor Swainston seconded the proposal and reserved her right to speak.

Councillor Jacobs referred to section 6 of the SCI in respect of consultation on planning applications. He said that the planning portal was the primary way in which residents can comment on applications. He referred to the challenge of identifying key documents in amongst the hundreds of documents, which were often named confusingly.

Councillor Jacobs asked if the key documents could be flagged in some way, as this would be extremely helpful. He recognised that the planning portal was not a council product and could not therefore be changed. He said that the council could however make changes to the way it was used.

Councillor Jacobs said that there was a problem with some documents in that they did not display clearly on computer screens. He highlighted a reserved matters planning application in Bishop’s Stortford where some trees were being considered for removal, and it had been very difficult to identify which trees were due to be cut down and which weren’t.

Councillor Jacobs said that a principle should be adopted that if a document could not be read clearly on a computer screen, then it shouldn’t be accepted as part of the planning validation process.

Councillor Woollcombe referred to paragraph 2.2 on page 37, and the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 stipulation that the council no longer needed an SCI. He commented on why Members were considering this if the document was going to become redundant.

Councillor Woollcombe said that he thought the document was excellent and should be adopted, especially as East Herts was a listening council and the SCI establishes how the council would do that. He asked how the council was going to continue to prepare and deliver SCIs for the constituents that Members represented.

Councillor Woollcombe said that Appendix B gave an excellent overview of how the District Plan will be consulted upon. He asked if that was the plan that was going to be adopted and, if not, how the document would be adapted, and how Councillors could have input into the plan for the consultation on the District Plan.

Councillor Glover-Ward said that as regards to submitting comments on the planning portal, the public could also comment via the generic planning email, which was planning@eastherts.gov.uk or via any councillor. She said that Members should always forward comments onto the planning department if they received any from the public about a planning application.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that as regards flagging up key documents on the planning portal, she would take that away and talk to officers about whether that was possible. Members were advised in respect of documents not displaying properly, all documents were checked as part of the validation process.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth said that if Members could notify her outside of the planning application reference and the document, and she would request that Officers investigate this to see what had happened.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth reiterated that there was only primary legislation at this time, and that the council did not yet have access to secondary legislation. She said that Officers were waiting for this before further items were developed.

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth confirmed that a paper on the District Plan was coming later in the agenda, and that a sub-committee of the Executive was where District Councillors could have input into the District Plan.

The motion to support the recommendation having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that the Statement of Community Involvement 2025, as detailed at Appendix A to this report, be approved for adoption.