Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework

Statement of Community Involvement

Draft - for consultation

June 2005

C

ontents

S

tatement of Community Involvement - Summary

1 What is the Statement of Community Involvement?

1.1 The Statement of Community Involvement is a statutory planning document, describing how Hampshire County Council will involve the local community in preparing and reviewing the various parts of the new Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework, and in determining planning applications.

2 What is the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework?

2.1 The Government has recently introduced new legislation (the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004) which is intended to speed up the planning system and help it to meet the needs of local people. This Act has changed the planning system in this country, and the old style County Structure Plan and Minerals and Waste Local Plan will be replaced with a Minerals and Waste Development Framework.

2.2 The Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework will be made up of a number of separate documents. Some will be prepared jointly with Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council (as minerals and waste planning authorities), and some will be prepared separately by each Council. The Statement of Community Involvement will be prepared separately.

3 The local community.

3.1 Getting the local community involved in the planning process is seen as a priority by the Government, who want local planning authorities like Hampshire County Council to make it easier for everyone to be involved in planning decisions in their local area. New planning legislation requires councils to take steps to actively try to involve the local community in planning issues.

4 Who are the local community?

4.1 We see the local community as anyone who is affected by decisions made on planning for minerals and waste in Hampshire, including:

· Interest groups

· Residents Associations and Action Groups

· Business, including minerals and waste operators

· District, Parish and Town Councils

· Landowners/agents

· Statutory bodies

· Individuals

· 'Hard to reach' groups

5 How will we involve the local community?

5.1 Hampshire County Council has identified a series of stages to be worked through in preparing for a consultation, including deciding what we are trying to achieve with each different act of community involvement.

5.2 The Statement of Community Involvement describes how Hampshire County Council propose to involve the local community at each stage of preparing the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework, and in coming to decisions on planning applications.

6 The Draft Statement of Community Involvement

6.1 This draft version of the Statement of Community Involvement has been produced as part of the process of finding out how local communities in and around Hampshire want to become more involved in planning.

6.2 Copies of this draft Statement of Community Involvement can be seen on our website at:

www.hants.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste

Copies are also available in Hampshire County Council Information Centres, District Council offices and libraries across Hampshire. If you are having difficulty obtaining a copy, please contact Trevor Badley of the Hampshire County Council Minerals and Waste Planning Group:

· by telephone on 01962 845795

· by e-mail at [email protected]

· or by writing to:

Minerals and Waste Planning

Environment Department

Hampshire County Council

The Castle

Winchester SO23 8UD

Please note this is a statutory consultation running for a set period of time.

Comments received after ??? p.m. on (to be added) will not be considered.

T

he new planning system

7

8 Minerals and Waste Development Framework documents

8.1 As a result of the changes to the planning system, Hampshire County Council will produce a Minerals and Waste Development Framework instead of the old structure plan and minerals and waste local plan. The new Minerals and Waste Development Framework is really a `folder' or collection of separate planning documents. Hampshire County Council, working jointly with Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council, will produce the following parts of our Minerals and Waste Development Framework over the next three years:

· the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Core Strategy will set out the general approach to planning for minerals and waste in Hampshire over the period to 2020.

· the Mineral Sites Plan will identify areas and sites for mineral provision (e.g. sand and gravel, clay, chalk) and producing recycled minerals (e.g. crushed concrete and builders' rubble).

· the Waste Management Sites Plan will identify areas and sites for waste disposal and managing resources (e.g. recycling materials instead of sending them to landfill).

7.2 To assess the effects of these plans on the environment and local communities, Hampshire County Council will produce a sustainability report, which summarises the findings of the strategic environmental assessment and sustainability appraisal. This document will go out to public consultation

7.3 Hampshire County Council will also produce an Annual Monitoring Report, reviewing how well we have been doing in implementing the different bits of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework, and providing statistical information on planning permissions. This Annual Monitoring Report will be jointly produced with Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council.

7.4 Hampshire County Council has already prepared the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme. This is a project timetable which gives information and details about the preparation of all the various minerals and waste development documents. The County Council's Minerals and Waste Development Scheme does not cover the Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council areas. These Councils have each prepared their own separate minerals and waste development schemes.

7.5 The Minerals and Waste Development Scheme is especially useful for anyone wanting to be involved in planning decisions, as it sets out when each minerals and waste development document will be available for formal consultation. Hampshire County Council's Minerals and Waste Development Scheme will be available online, at www.hants.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste. Otherwise, please use the contact details at the front of this document to request a copy, or to find out where you may view a copy.

7.6 The separate Minerals and Waste Development Schemes prepared by Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Councils are available from those Councils. Their respective website addresses are:

www.portsmouth.gov.uk/living/index.html

and

www.southampton.gov.uk/environment

9 The Statement of Community Involvement

9.1 Hampshire County Council also has to produce a document known as the Statement of Community Involvement. This describes how Hampshire County Council will involve the local community:

· in preparing, altering and reviewing the various parts of the new Minerals and Waste Development Framework and;

· in determining planning applications.

9.2 The Statement of Community Involvement will cover the administrative area of Hampshire County Council, but not the areas of Southampton or Portsmouth City Councils. It will describe how Hampshire County Council will meet the legal requirements to ensure public involvement in the planning process, who we seek to get involved, when, and how people can be involved. It will also describe how, after we have listened to what people have to say, we will provide feedback to the public.

9.3 Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils will also be producing Statements of Community Involvement, describing how each Council will seek to get their own local communities involved in the most effective way. Since each Statement of Community Involvement will be specifically focussed on the administrative area of each Council, there will be some differences in the approaches used to reach out to local communities. However, each Statement of Community Involvement will be consistent in their approach to involving the local community in the development of the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework.

9.4 The Statement of Community Involvement is required to go through the following community involvement stages:

· there will be a 6 week consultation period, from June to August 2005, seeking views on the first draft of the Statement of Community Involvement; the first draft will then be rewritten in the light of all comments made;

· the final draft of the Statement of Community Involvement will be submitted to the Secretary of State in November 2005 after which a second 6 week consultation period, from November 2005 to January 2006, will start;

· the Draft Statement of Community Involvement may go through a public examination in front of an independent Planning Inspector; if this takes place, it is likely to be in May 2006;

· the Inspector will prepare a report on what the final version of the Statement of Community Involvement should be like, and Hampshire County Council will then adopt the Statement of Community Involvement with any changes required. The likely date for adoption will be August 2006.

· the Statement of Community Involvement will then become a statutory planning document, and Hampshire County Council will be committed to following the procedures it contains.

· the Statement of Community Involvement will be reviewed and monitored through the County Council's Annual Monitoring report, and updated as necessary.

W

ho needs to be involved in the planning process?

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11 The local community

11.1 For minerals and waste planning in Hampshire, how is "the local community" made up? We suggest that it includes:

· anyone who is affected by or relies on the production of minerals, and

· anyone affected by or involved in the recycling or disposal of waste (most people who live or work in Hampshire produce some form of waste).

11.2 The local community in this case therefore covers just about all of the people, groups and organisations who live, work or spend time in Hampshire. These are sometimes called `stakeholders', since they are all affected by decisions on planning and therefore all have a `stake' or an interest in the planning process.

11.3 All stakeholders are potential consultees in the minerals and waste planning process. Since they are affected by planning decisions, stakeholders need an opportunity to make their views known before planning decisions are made. It is necessary to first of all identify who these stakeholders are. However, since there are too many stakeholders or consultees to list them all individually, Table 1 below has divided the overall body of stakeholders into a series of groups to indicate the range of consultees.

11.4 Since each consultee group has different interests and skills, they will generally need to be contacted and have their views collected in different ways. Table 1 also sets out some of the interest and skills of each consultee group, as part of the process of deciding how the different groups should be involved in the planning process.

11.5 Further information on consultees is provided in Appendix 1.

T

able 1: Consultee groups, skills and interests

9.6 Planning legislation¹ sets out the Specific Consultation Groups, including statutory agencies, organisations and Government Departments, that Hampshire County Council must contact. It also identifies General Consultation Bodies (e.g. voluntary, racial ethnic and other interest groups) that we may wish to contact if appropriate. Appendix 1 has more information on the members or potential members of these `consultation bodies'.

9.7 Contacting the specific statutory consultees is generally straightforward, and can be done in a number of ways. Local and community groups can be more difficult to identify and reach, but the local knowledge they have is vital in coming to a decision on the planning strategy for an area. There are a number of community groups that have in the past been involved in the review and production of minerals and waste planning documents, and it is hoped that the number of groups actively involved will increase with the selected approaches to community involvement as set out in this Statement of Community Involvement.

9.8 Even more difficult to identify and contact are the 'hard to reach' groups. These may include:

· minority ethnic and faith groups

· minority communities, including gypsies and travellers

· commuters

· the physically disadvantaged

· the homeless

· young people and old people

· people with limited access to transport

· people with limited access to information technology

9.9 For any specific planning document or any planning application being determined, the relevant 'hard to reach' groups will be identified and innovative ways to reach them will be devised. In most cases these approaches will be drawn from the various methods set out in Table 2 of Appendix 2.

L

inks to Community Planning

9 The Community Strategy

10.1 The Government introduced the Local Government Act in 2000, giving local authorities increased responsibility for promoting the economic, social and environmental well-being of their area. This is achieved through developing Strategic Partnerships (umbrella organisations which bring together community representatives and key agencies such as fire, police, local government services and so on) and producing a Community Strategy.

10.2 The Community Strategy is a fairly new document which is meant to provide an opportunity for all parts of the local Hampshire community to flag up their needs and priorities. The Hampshire Community Strategy, Shaping our future together - a Community Strategy for Hampshire 2004 - 2007, has been developed by the Hampshire Strategic Partnership and will help to improve the quality of life for Hampshire communities. It will then be easier for inputs from the local community to influence the decisions of the County Council and other service providers, and to make a contribution to sustainable development.

10.3 The Hampshire Strategic Partnership (see Appendix 1) is a multi-sector, multi-organisation partnership that was set up to oversee the implementation and development of the Hampshire Community Strategy. The Community Strategy relies on building and maintaining partnership across the Hampshire community, and provides a good opportunity for local communities (including the public, private, voluntary and community sectors) to express their wishes and opinions about, and to influence the

work of, the minerals and waste planning authority.

10.4 The Hampshire Community Strategy has established the following vision for Hampshire:

"Hampshire will be a prosperous and attractive county for all, where economic, social and environmental needs are met in the most sustainable way and the quality of life and sense of community of present and future generations are improved"

together with four underlying themes:

· Strong and Safe Communities

· Health and Well-Being

· Economic Prosperity and Life-Long Learning, and

· Environment, Infrastructure and Transport.

10.5 One of the priority areas identified as supporting all of these themes is "better engagement with partners and partnerships", particularly through the support of district partnerships. The Government would like to see greater integration between community strategies and the planning documents of the new planning system. However, since the Community Strategy addresses high-level, county-wide issues, natural linkages with the Minerals and Waste Development Framework are limited.

10.6 Hampshire County Council will identify the sections of the Hampshire Community Strategy (e.g. recycling and waste minimisation under the Environment, Infrastructure and Transport theme) which are related to spatial planning, and which can be delivered either fully or partially through the Minerals and Waste Development Framework.

10.7 Wherever possible the production and review of the parts of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework will be integrated with the work of the Community Strategy, and the Hampshire Strategic Partnership will be consulted on the content and approach of the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework.

10 More from Less

10.1 More from Less is a document which outlines community wishes and aspirations for the future of minerals and waste planning and management in Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton. It was produced following a community stakeholder dialogue process which began in September 2003 and ran until February 2005.

10.2 The stakeholder dialogue process brought together representatives from many sectors of the local community, together with a wide range of business interests and representatives from Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and Project Integra (a partnership of Hampshire Districts and the County Council, responsible for dealing with household waste).

10.3 The vision of More from Less is to:

"change the way we use material resources² to maximise efficiency and minimise wastage".

10.4 This vision will be achieved through four aims:

· To extract primary materials only where it can be shown that the need cannot be met in a more sustainable way

· To change minds and behaviours to use all resources efficiently and minimise wastage at all stages of production and consumption

· To maximise opportunities for business and the community to reuse, recycle and compost such waste to produce sustainable products, wherever waste is produced

· To recover value from and dispose of unavoidable waste using sustainable means, as far as possible avoiding the land filling of biodegradable / recyclable waste

10.5 More from Less is all about trying to manage material resources (including minerals and waste) in Hampshire. It introduces a different way of doing business, of thinking about how we use resources and what we do with the 'waste' that we produce. A lot of time and effort on the part of stakeholders drawn from across the Hampshire community and beyond has gone into preparing the More from Less document.

10.6 The Minerals and Waste Development Framework is one of the most important ways of meeting the wishes and aspirations expressed by the stakeholders during the production of More from Less. The ongoing community involvement required for the Minerals and Waste Development Framework will build on and develop the community involvement that has already taken place.

P

reparing for Community Involvement

10.7

11 Levels of community involvement

11.1 Before undertaking community involvement, Hampshire County Council will first establish what we want to achieve, both at that time and with the resources available. Will the communication from the County Council:

· Inform - keep members of the community up to date with the current stage and status of an emerging planning document or a planning application under consideration. The individuals involved can then choose if they wish to be further involved.

· Consult - find out what the community think about any given approach to creating planning policy as proposed by, or any planning application being determined by, the minerals and waste planning authority. This is generally a formal or statutory period, when representations are invited from the community on a draft version of any document, or comments invited on a planning application. (Note that interested stakeholders will most likely have had earlier opportunities to contribute to policy development).

· Encourage participation (actively involving people) - active involvement and dialogue may be encouraged with certain groups and individuals to explore issues and develop debate about a given issue.

12 A methodology for community involvement

12.1 Having decided what we need to achieve, we will then apply the following steps when deciding on our approach to community involvement at any given stage of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework preparation process. These steps are:

· Decide what type and level of involvement is required - identify what information is needed from the community and what the community may wish to contribute; what do we want them to give us, and what might they first need from us.

· Decide who we are going to consult - identify the stakeholders (groups and individuals) that we need to consult, based on the document under preparation and its stage of preparation. This will include consideration of the needs of, and possible methods of communication with, 'hard to reach' groups.

· Consider resources available for community involvement - whatever techniques and approaches are selected, these have to be appropriate to need, and resources must be available to implement the approach chosen.

· Decide how we are going to involve the community - what techniques or approaches will we use? Are we going to Inform, Consult or seek Involvement and Participation from the community?

· Decide on the appropriate analysis, review and the feedback of information - how are we going to analyse and use the information we receive, and how will we provide feedback to those consulted.

13

T

he Minerals and Waste Development Framework

14 Planning Documents to be prepared

14.1 The preparation of each Minerals and Waste Development Framework document is broken down into a series of stages, as set out in planning legislation. The legislation also sets out what community involvement and consultation must be carried out at each stage.

14.2 As described in the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme (our project plan), the following four planning documents will be prepared over the next three years.

· Statement of Community Involvement

· Core Strategy

· Minerals Sites Plan and

· Waste Management Sites Plan

As already noted, the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme was approved in March 2005.

15 Stages of preparation of these documents

15.1 The stages that each document has to go through during its preparation, together with the community involvement required at each stage, are set out below:

15.2 Preparation of Preferred Options:

· The 'Preferred Options' are the range of potential approaches put forward by Hampshire County Council and the City Councils (the planning authorities) for providing minerals and dealing with waste in Hampshire.

· At this stage, the planning authorities are required³ to informally consult and involve various stakeholders and consultees. The planning authorities will also publish an initial Sustainability Report (also known as a Scoping Report) for consultation.

15.3 Publication of Preferred Options

· Having taken into account the community input received, the planning authorities will select preferred options, and then publish these for a formal (statutory) consultation period of six weeks⁴, using the approaches set out in the Statement of Community Involvement to involve the local community.

· The Sustainability Report, considering the likely significant effects of all options considered and those selected will also be published for comment.

15.4 Submission of Development Plan Document

· After taking the further comments received into consideration, the development plan document will be finalised and formally submitted to Government by the planning authorities.

· This is followed by another statutory period of consultation for six weeks during which further comments from consultees are invited, again in line with the approach of the Statement of Community Involvement.

· The final Sustainability Appraisal report will also be submitted, and is subject to consultation.

· The planning authorities will be required to show how they have managed community involvement and how they have dealt with comments received during the consultations⁵.

15.5 Further statutory consultation

· If representations have been made which propose alternative sites to those identified in the development plan document, or boundary changes to sites are proposed, the planning authorities will advertise these immediately and there will be a further six week consultation period⁶.

15.6 Public examination

· The planning authorities are required to publicise the time and venue for the Examination, and any other information considered helpful to the relevant community.

15.7 Inspectors Report and adoption

· When received, the Inspector's Report will be published and publicised.

· When the development plan document is formally adopted, the local community will be informed. The information will be published on our website, and notices will be placed in local newspapers.

16.0 Specific techniques for Community Involvement

16.1 The following approaches will be used by Hampshire County Council in involving the local community in preparing Minerals and Waste Development Framework planning documents:

· Notice of the consultation will be placed on the Hampshire County Council Minerals and Waste Planning web site www.hants.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste together with details of where and when the document being consulted on may be inspected or copies obtained.

· This information will also be available through Hampshire County Council Information Centres, as well as libraries.

· A press notice containing details of the consultation will be issued to local newspapers. Use will also be made of the County Council newspaper (Hampshire Now), and district and parish magazines where appropriate.

· Notification of the consultation will be given to statutory consultees and to other interested parties by letter or by email and their views invited.

· Neighbouring properties surrounding specific sites identified in the Sites plans will be individually notified when final draft versions of these plans are submitted to Government.

· Similarly, neighbouring properties of sites submitted for consideration during the second consultation of the Sites plans will also be individually notified. In both cases, this will be done by sending a letter to properties which are within 50 metres of the proposed site in urban areas or 100 metres from the application site in rural areas. Additional notification beyond these areas is at the discretion of the planning officer.

· Use will be made of meetings with stakeholders and other interested parties, as appropriate. A written record of all discussions will be made.

· Copies of the consultation document will be sent to the statutory consultees and also be made available to the public on the Hampshire County Council Minerals and Waste Planning web site.

· During opening hours at the County Council Offices, Information Centres, District Councils and at libraries hard copies will be available for inspection.

· The timing of the consultation period will be set out in the Notice of Consultation.

· All responses must be made by letter, e-mail, formal questionnaire or pro-forma response and received by the consultation deadline. Late representations will not be considered.

16.2 Table 2 in Appendix 2 links these (and other) techniques to the specific stages of preparing Minerals and Waste Development Framework planning document.

17.0 Strategic Environmental Assessment/Sustainability Appraisal

17.1 The Core Strategy, the Minerals Sites Plan and the Waste Sites Plan require the preparation of an environmental report under the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) Directive. This requirement will be combined with Sustainability Appraisal in a process known as Integrated Sustainability Appraisal. The combined report produced will be known as a Sustainability Report.

17.2 Integrated Sustainability Appraisal is a relatively technical process. The initial scoping report will be circulated to statutory consultees and selected stakeholders only. The interim and finished Sustainability Reports will be subject to public consultation, along with the relevant development plan document.

17.0 Supplementary planning documents

18.1 There are other documents within the Minerals and Waste Development Framework known as supplementary planning documents. Supplementary planning documents do not have an examination before an Inspector, but community involvement is a key part of their production. Hampshire County Council do not propose to produce any supplementary planning documents in the next three years. However, should supplementary planning documents be prepared in the future, the community involvement process will be as follows.

18.2 We will:

· Use stakeholder events to focus and develop the scope, content and early versions of the supplementary planning document, possibly including a focus group of interested parties with a particular expertise in the relevant field

· Publish a draft for a period of public consultation (6 weeks) and publish a statement of representations received and our response

· Put the document on our website, and use the media to publicise it

· Write to relevant interested stakeholders

· Publish a statement of conformity with the statement of community Involvement when the supplementary planning document is adopted

· Carry out a sustainability appraisal during the preparation of the supplementary planning document and publish the findings

18.0 Plain English

19.1 Hampshire County Council will seek to ensure that as far as possible all written communications associated with the Minerals and Waste Development Framework and planning applications are written in Plain English and where considered appropriate they will be subject to a Plain English audit.

19.0 Equalities

20.1 In line with the requirements of the Race Relations Act 2000 and the Equality Standard for Local Government, the emerging Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework will be subject to a Race and Equalities Impact Assessment during 2005/2006, in order to identify and eliminate any disadvantage associated with disability, gender and race.

20.2 As a minimum standard, all documents and information produced will be available, on request, in other languages and in other formats such as Braille, large print and audio versions.

20.0 Reporting Back

21.1 All representations made during a consultation will be logged and acknowledged, using e-mail as far as possible.

21.2 Once a consultation exercise has been completed the comments received together with points raised will be analysed and a summary of the comments will be made publicly available on the Hampshire County Council Minerals and Waste Planning web site, and at the County Council Environment Department Offices.

21.3 At a later stage feedback will be provided showing how views received from the consultation have been taken into account, and what (if any) actions resulted from the consultation comments. Any or all of the following methods may be used:

· Publishing the information online

· Publishing information in Hampshire Now

· Issuing press releases and statements

· Providing copies of the feedback at Hampshire County Council Environment Department offices

23

P

lanning applications

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22.0 Introduction

22.1 The planning applications which Hampshire County Council deal with are `County Matters' and County Council developments. There are two types of `County Matter.' These are:

· Applications for mineral working and associated development and

· Applications for treating, storing, processing and disposal of waste.

22.2 County Council developments are those related to our statutory duties, including schools, libraries, social services facilities and highways.

22.3 This section of the of the Statement of Community Involvement considers how the County Council will publicise and consult on the planning applications it deals with, and identify how the local community will be involved in the consideration of these applications.

22 Minimum requirements

23.1 There are minimum standards for advertising planning applications which are set out in the Town and Country (General Development Procedure) Order 1995. The requirements vary according to the nature of the application as follows;

23.2 If the application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement⁷, is a Departure from the Development Plan⁸ or would affect a public right of way it must be publicised by a site notice⁹ displayed for at least 21 days and a notice in the local newspaper.

23.3 If the application is not one of the above but is a `major' application<sup>10</sup> it must be publicised by a site notice displayed for at least 21 days or neighbour notification<sup>11</sup> and a notice in the local newspaper. `Minor' applications (i.e. anything not major) must be publicised by either a site notice or neighbour notification.

23.4 In addition the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires that proposals which affect a Listed Building or appearance of a Conservation Area are advertised by a site notice and notice in a local newspaper.

23 Current publicity

24.1 Hampshire County Council already exceeds the minimum requirements in publicising planning applications, in particular by carrying out neighbour notification as well as site notices. When a valid planning application is received the County Council undertakes the following publicity;

· A notice is placed in the local newspaper (allowing at least 21 days for comments to be made):

_ for all minerals and waste applications

_ if the application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement

_ if it is a Departure from the Development Plan

_ if it affects a public right of way

_ if it is any other `major' application, and

_ if it affects the setting of a Listed Building and/or the character or appearance of a Conservation Area.

· A notice is placed on site (allowing at least 21 days for comments to be made) for all applications.

· Neighbour Notification is undertaken for all applications. This is done by sending a letter to properties which are within 50 metres of the application site in urban areas or 100 metres from the application site in rural areas. Additional notification beyond these areas is at the discretion of the case officer.

· A briefing note is produced by the planning officer dealing with the application for all Minerals and Waste applications and major County Council Applications. The briefing note sets out brief details of the application, relevant planning policies in the statutory development plan, lists consultees and providing the likely Committee date¹² or likely date when the application would be determined under the delegation procedure¹³.

· The application and all supporting information is available for public inspection at Hampshire County Council's Environment Department at The Castle, Winchester, during normal office hours. The application will also be available on the web site at: www.hants.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste

· The local County Councillor is notified of the application and given a copy of the briefing note.

· Copies of the application are sent to the relevant District Council where they will be registered by the Council, allocated a specific application number and will be available for the public to examine at the District Council offices. Comments may be made directs to Hampshire County Council, or via the District Council. The District Council is also formally consulted.

· The views of specific consultees (e.g. Highway Authority, Environment Agency, District Council Environmental Health Officer, English Nature, Airfield safeguarding) are requested. Consultees are given a copy of the briefing note, and have 21 days to respond.

· Copies of the application are sent to the relevant Parish/Town Council together with the briefing note and consultation letter. Adjoining Parish/Town Councils are consulted when the application is close to their boundaries. Residents' Associations are consulted when known to have an interest in the site.

24 E-Government

25.1 The County Council is developing e-government facilities which will further extend the publicity and information about planning applications.

25.2 There will be a dedicated web site for Minerals and Waste Planning. Part of the web site will be for Development Control, making information on planning applications available to the public. The public will be able to view the planning application documents, to make their representations by e-mail, to see consultation responses, to view the relevant County Council policies, to view the Committee Report or Delegation Report and to view the Decision Notice. A copy of the Annual Report will be on the website.

25.3 It will also be possible for applicants to download application forms and to submit planning applications online. Whilst it is currently possible to view some information from various County Council websites and make representations by e-mail, the dedicated website will be designed to be user friendly and provide a single location for all relevant information.

25 Commenting on Planning Applications

26.1 Anyone can make comments on a planning application. Comments can be made in writing by letter or by e-mail to [email protected] or via the website when operational. Arrangements are also made to ensure that comments sent to the District Council are forwarded to the County Council.

26.2 A minimum of 21 days from the publicity date of the application are normally allowed for representations to be made and later ones will only be taken into account if prior agreement for late submissions has been made.

26.3 Comments can be to support, to object or to make a general observation about the proposal. A name and postal address must be provided for the comments to be accepted, anonymous representations cannot be accepted. All comments will be kept with the application and will therefore be available for viewing by the applicant and the public. All written representations will be acknowledged, and the name and address entered on the planning application database.

26.4 When an application is determined by the Director of Environment under the Delegation procedures, a report will be written which sets out the consultation responses and representations received, and identifies how these have been taken into account. The report will be available for public inspection, and will be available on the web site.

26.5 When an application is going to the Regulatory Committee, people who have made representations will be informed when the application is on the Agenda and informed of the County Councils deputation procedure. Applicants and the members of the public have the right to make a deputation directly to the Regulatory Committee. District Council officers and Councillors cannot make a deputation, however Parish Councillors can make deputations on behalf of their communities.

26.6 Current information on making deputations to Committee is available on-line at:

http://hantsnet2000.hants.gov.uk/TC/chiefexecs/democraticprotocols/deputations.html.

26.7 All those who have made representations will be informed of the County Councils decision on the application.

26 Pre-application discussions

27.1 The County Council encourages developers to enter into pre-application discussions with the Council to establish the information that will be required, identify key issues and policies. The County Council also supports developers undertaking early community consultation, particularly for large scale proposals.

27.2 This provides the local community the opportunity to influence the developers proposals and also restrict unnecessary objections after the application has been submitted. Public exhibitions and displays by the developer to explain their proposals are encouraged, particularly for major schemes.

27 Liaison Panels

28.1 The County Council encourages the formation of local Liaison Panels for major or controversial sites. These provide a forum for discussing operational issues between the operator, the County Council (as Planning Authority) and representatives of the local community.

28.2 These Liaison Panels are either administered by the County Council where resources permit, or organised by the operator. A list of the current Liaison Panels is provided in the Annual Report.

M

anagement

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29 Staff Resources

29.1 The Minerals and Waste Development Framework will be jointly prepared by the Hampshire County Council Minerals and Waste Policy Team, together with planning policy colleagues from Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils. Minerals and Waste planning applications within Hampshire County Council's administrative boundary will be dealt with by Hampshire County Council's Minerals and Waste Development Control Team.

29.2 Planning applications within the administrative areas of Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils will be dealt with by those Authorities. Their contact details are:

· Planning Services

Portsmouth City Council

Civic Offices

Guildhall Square

Portsmouth

Hants, PO1 2BG  

Tel: 023 9283 4334

email:  [email protected]

· The Duty Officer
Development Control Service

Southampton City Council
Ground Floor
Civic Centre
Southampton
SO14 7LS

Tel:  023 8083 2603 or 023 8083 3318  


email:  [email protected] 

29.3 Where appropriate, Hampshire County Council will appoint consultants to supplement the work of either of these teams. Appointment of consultants will be carried out, where applicable, in discussion with Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils.

29.4 Future flexibility will be required in integrating Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Councils with the New Forest National Park and the South Downs National Park (when the latter is confirmed as a national park). These national park authorities will be Minerals and Waste Planning Authorities. Final arrangements for working with them have yet to be determined.

29 Finance

30.1 Financial resources required to prepare the Minerals and Waste Development Framework will be included in an overall budget, which includes proportional contributions from all Hampshire County Council and the two City Councils.

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ppendix 1: Consultees for the Minerals Development Plan Document

The following is a list of the broad types of statutory and other consultees. A full list is not included here as it will be subject to change as the County Council adds or removes consultees.

An full and up-to-date list of consultees will be available on our website at: www.hants.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste

Statutory Consultees

Government Departments and Agencies

· Countryside Agency

· Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

· English Nature

· Environment Agency

· Government Office for the South East (GOSE)

· Highways Agency

· Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (English Heritage)

· Ministry of Defence

· Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Minerals and Waste Division)

· South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA)

· South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

· Strategic Rail Authority

· West Sussex Health Authority

Local Authorities (including Parish Councils) within Hampshire

Local Authorities (including Parish Councils) adjoining Hampshire

Service Agencies, Public Utilities, Statutory Undertakers

Other Consultees

Other Minerals Planning Authorities in the South East

Members of United Kingdom and European Parliament

Minerals and Waste Management Operators

Landowners

Interest Groups/Voluntary Groups

Community and Residents Groups

Other Organisations

Hampshire Strategic Partnership

· Army

· Business Link Wessex

· Churches Together in Hants & IOW

· Community Action Hampshire

· Hampshire Ambulance Services

· Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils (HAPTC)

· Hampshire Coalition of Disabled People

· Hampshire County Council

· Hampshire Economic Partnership

· Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service

· Hampshire Police

· Hampshire and Isle of Wight Environment Agency

· Hampshire and Isle of Wight Association (HIOWA)

· Government Office for the South East (GOSE)

· Learning & Skills Council

· RAF

· Royal Navy

· South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

· Southampton University Hospitals

· Sport England

· Stagecoach Bus Company

· Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority

· Strategic Rail Authority

· Youth Parliament

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ppendix 2 - Table 2

G

lossary

Annual Monitoring Report: Reviews and assesses the implementation of the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme, and how effectively the policies in the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework are being achieved.

Community Strategy: The Local Government Act 2000 requires local authorities to prepare a Community Strategy. It sets out the broad vision for the future of the local authority's area and proposals for delivering that vision.

Core Strategy: One of the development plan documents within the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework, the Core Strategy sets out the long-term spatial vision for the Minerals and Waste planning authority area and the strategic policies and proposals to deliver that vision.

Engagement: Entering into a deliberative process of dialogue with others, actively seeking and listening to their views and exchanging ideas, information and opinions. Unlike `mediation' or `negotiation' engagement can occur without there being a dispute to resolve.

Enquiry by Design: This process helps reach agreement between groups that would normally hold differing aspirations by bringing them together and focusing on the sustainability and quality of the urban environment itself. All concerns - technical, political, environmental and social - are tested and challenged by the design itself, so that design leads rather than follows the process.

Inspector's Report: This will be produced by the Planning Inspector following his/her Independent Examination of the development plan documents and will be binding on the County Council.

Local Strategic Partnership: Non statutory, non-executive body bringing together representatives of the public, private and voluntary sectors. The LSP is responsible for preparing the Community Strategy.

Mediation: Intervention into a dispute by an acceptable impartial neutral person whose role it is to assist the parties in dispute to reach their own mutually acceptable settlement. It is essentially a voluntary procedure, its proceedings are confidential to the participants; any settlement however can be made public with the agreement of all parties.

Minerals and Waste Development Plan Document: Spatial minerals and waste related planning documents that are subject to independent examination. There will be a right for those making representations seeking change to be heard at an independent examination.

Minerals and Waste Development Scheme: Sets out the programme for the preparation of the minerals and waste development documents. Must be submitted to Secretary of State for approval within six months of the commencement date of the Act regardless of where they are in terms of their current development plan.

Minerals and Waste Development Framework: Comprises a portfolio of minerals and waste development documents which will provide the framework for delivering the spatial minerals and waste planning strategy for the area.

Negotiation: Process of reaching consensus by exchanging information, bargaining and compromise that goes on between two or more parties with some shared interests and conflicting interests. Negotiation is likely to be part of the process of mediation, but can also happen outside of any formal mediation and without the assistance of a neutral person.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM): The Government department with responsibility for planning and local government.

Planning Aid: Voluntary provision by planners of free and independent professional advice on planning to individuals or groups unable to afford to pay for the full costs of such advice. Planning Aid includes the provision of training so that its clients can be empowered through better understanding of how the planning system works and the development of skills that enable them to present their own case more effectively.

Proposals Map: Illustrates the policies and proposals in the development plan documents and any saved policies that are included in the Minerals and Waste development framework.

Public consultation: A process through which the public is informed about proposals fashioned by a planning authority or developer and invited to submit comments on them.

Site-specific allocations and policies: Allocations of sites for specific or mixed uses or development. Policies will identify any specific requirements for individual proposals.

Supplementary Planning Document: Policy guidance to supplement the policies and proposals in development plan documents. They will not form part of the development plan or be subject to independent examination.

Statement of Community Involvement: Statutory planning document which sets out how and when the community can get involved in the preparation of planning documents. The Statement of Community Involvement is subject to independent examination.