Development plan amendment regulations: consultation response summary

Question 18

Question 18A)

To what extent do you agree that approval by the full council is not always required before the publication of a proposed amendment to a LDP for consultation?

There were 42 responses to Question 18A, which have been set out by respondent type in Table 18 below.

Several respondents supported the proposal (a combined 54.8%), while some were neutral. There were 8 respondents who either disagreed or strongly disagreed. The responses varied across the grouping, with no single consensus within a specific group of respondents.

Question 18B)

Where applicable, please give reasons for your answer.

35 respondents provided further comment at Question 18B.

Summary /Themes

There was a range of views on the proposal that planning authorities themselves determine if full council approval is required on an amendment before going to consultation, despite more than half being supportive.

From those that were supportive of the approach, themes of flexibility and resourcing came through. Comments across some responses suggested that the intention to be flexible and leave the decision to planning authorities was sensible and appropriate, while would aid in the resource burden felt by planning departments.

However, there were some respondents who were neutral on the proposal and this was across all of the groups represented. There was a consensus among these responses that the proposal was in line with local processes, where a planning authority already determines this via a scheme of delegation, or that this decision is best made by the planning authority themselves and therefore respondents from other sectors were reluctant to provide their own viewpoint.

Of those that opposed the proposal, seven provided further comment at 18B. The comments provided from each of these respondents noted that, while they understood the intention to be flexible, an amendment should be subject to the same process as a full LDP. Respondents generally called for democratic legitimacy and consistency in this process.

However, from the comments made it may be that there is some misunderstanding on the proposal put forward, as comments seem to indicate objections are to adopting an LDP amendment without full council approval, rather than the proposal which only related to going to consultation on the amendment.