Statement of Community Involvement

Appendices

Appendix 1 - The Statement of Community Involvement Preparation Process
Appendix 2 - Extracts from Lancaster District Consultation Strategy
Appendix 3 - Scheme of Delegation
Appendix 4 - Scheme of Consultation on Planning Applications
Appendix 5 - Consultation Procedures and Methods for Development Plan Documents and Supplementary Planning Documents
Appendix 6 - Organisations to be Consulted on Relevant Development Plan Documents, Supplementary Planning Documents and Regeneration Initiatives

6 Parish Plans and other Plans and Strategies prepared by Outside Bodies

6.1 Many Parishes are preparing Parish Plans. Parish Plans play an important role in galvanising local communities, raising awareness of environmental and social issues affecting local communities, providing a means of articulating local concerns in a structured way and conveying the views of local communities to public service providers. Other bodies may also wish to prepare local area master plans and strategies. These may include communities in regeneration areas, institutions and major development proposals where there is no provision in the Local Development Scheme.^vii The needs of Local communities articulated through Parish Plans will be taken into account when the Council prepares Local Development Documents.

The Role of Lancaster City Council in Parish Plan preparation

6.2 Parish Plans will have greater support from local communities if produced by the communities themselves. The role of the City Council is;

An information resource; making available background information and maps;
As a consultee advising on plan preparation where requested by the Parish;
To have regard to the needs and priorities identified in Parish Plans and other strategies and other strategies in it's Local Development Documents

6.3 Although the Countryside Agency has in the past advised that Parish Plans should be adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance under the old development planning system, new regulatory requirements have made the preparation of Supplementary Planning Documents more rigorous, more constrained by the need for conformity with other documents and more resource-intensive to prepare with the requirements for community involvement and sustainability appraisal.

6.4 Only Lancaster City Council as Local Planning Authority can adopt Supplementary Planning Documents. The Council is also responsible for Community Involvement and ensuring that sustainability appraisal has been undertaken. At the present time, the Council’s plan preparation resource is fully committed to delivering its core Local Development Framework document and cannot resource the intensive advice, community involvement and sustainability appraisal processes needed to enable Parish Plans to become Supplementary Planning Documents.

6.5 This position may be reviewed in the future if the resource position changes but at the present time the Council cannot commit to the adoption of Parish Plans or plans prepared by other outside bodies as Supplementary Planning Documents. Where a Parish plan clearly articulates a community view, even though the plan would not have the weight of a planning policy document, it would nonetheless be a material consideration in planning decisions.

The Local Development Scheme is the Council's programme which sets out which Local Development Documents it intends to prepare and the timetable for preparing them.

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