Statement of Community Involvement (SCI)
The West Lancashire Statement of Community Involvement was
adopted by the Council with effect from 17 July 2007.
The SCI will be amended in the near future to take
account of
changes to the planning system made in spring
2008.
Statements of Community Involvement -
background
One of the major principles behind the new planning system is
community involvement. We encourage the public, local
organisations, businesses, and others with an interest in the area
to take part and have a say in preparing planning documents, and in
assessing planning applications.
The government requires every planning authority to produce a
Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). The SCI sets out whom the
authority will consult on planning issues, and what methods they
will use. It makes up part of the Local Development
Framework. Government regulations dictate how an SCI
should be prepared. The process is complex, and involves three
rounds of consultation.
Preparing the West Lancashire
SCI
Stage 1 - initial
consultation
West Lancashire District Council carried
out its first stage of SCI consultation in winter 2005/early 2006.
We sent out a questionnaire, asking for people's views on what
should be included in the SCI, and how they would like to be
consulted.
Stage 2 - First draft
Using the feedback from the questionnaire, we prepared a draft SCI,
and consulted on it in autumn 2006. We received 45 comments, and
made changes to the SCI as a result. You can view or download the
SCI
Pre-Submission Consultation Statement which summarises the
comments received, and the changes subsequently made to the
SCI.
Stage 3 - submission
The Council submitted
the amended SCI to the Secretary of State on 22 February 2007.
For six weeks, the Council also consulted on the document. People
were required to comment on whether the document was "sound" or
"unsound", judging it against a number of criteria. In total, the
Council received 17 comments on the document, six of these
considering it to be "unsound".
Stage 4 - examination
The Council forwarded all comments made about the "Submission SCI"
to the Secretary of State. An independent Inspector, Mr Keith
Holland, examined the SCI to make a judgement on whether or not it
was "sound". The examination took place in spring 2007.
As there were only six objections made to the SCI, the examination
was quickly completed. The Council received the Inspector's Report
on 7 June. The Inspector found the SCI to be sound, subject to some
minor changes.
Stage 5 - adoption
The Council's Cabinet
considered a report in July 2007, recommending that the SCI be
adopted by the Council. The Council adopted the SCI on 17 July
2007.
Next steps
Whenever the Council consults
on planning documents from now on, it must meet the relevant
standards set out in the SCI. We will monitor how well we do this
as part of the Annual Monitoring Report.
Contact us
For more information please contact Stephen Benge, Principal
Planning Officer
Tel: 01695 585274
Email: ldf@westlancsdc.gov.uk