Masterplan Consent Area Regulations: consultation responses summary

Other points raised

Summary / Themes

Of the 62 responses received to this consultation, nine of them (14.5%) were submitted in a different format and did not directly answer the questions laid out in the consultation paper. These responses instead include broad comments on the proposals put forward and are analysed qualitatively only.

The nine responses consisted of three Development, Property & Land Management sector & Agents, three Key Agency & Other Public Sector, two Professional Representative Bodies and one Third Sector respondents.

Two responses from Development, Property & Land Management sector & Agent respondents were supportive of the proposed approach within the consultation. They suggested guidance should include best practice covering community engagement, viability and joint working arrangements for planning authorities preparing MCA schemes. A response from a Key Agency & Other Public Sector respondent was also supportive, but suggested guidance must give greater emphasis to the role of community engagement.

Two responses were critical of the draft regulations. One response from a Professional Representative Body provided various suggestions for both regulations and guidance to ensure MCAs mitigate archaeological risks appropriately. A response from a Third Sector respondent stated there was the need for detailed guidance to be published to provide more detail and clarity on how MCAs are to be funded, who should undertake them and what role landowners have in decision making.

One response sought to confirm that MCAs would support the ‘Agent of Change’ principle, while a number of responses also queried how MCAs fit within the existing planning system and associated wider policy framework.

Two Key Agency & Other Public Sector responses provided contact information they wish to have included within MCA guidance, to ensure they are engaged with during the preparation of an MCA scheme.