Agenda item

To consider a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development on the continuation of Session 2 of the Inquiry to Review the Method by which Planning Applications are Publicised and Community Involvement takes place.

Referring to Minute 94 of the meeting held on 9^th February 2010, the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report in relation to  Session 2 of the Board's inquiry to review the method by which planning applications were publicised and community involvement takes place.

The purpose of this extended session was to consider:-

·  case studies involving selected residents groups, developers  and Area Managers suggesting improvements to the current arrangements for publicising and involving people on planning applications, given the constraints identified in paragraph 1.4 of the terms of reference

·  identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current arrangements and opportunities and barriers for improvement

·  how this fits with current corporate consultation policy, processes and arrangements to facilitate more effective community consultation in neighbourhoods with regard to statutory requirements for timescale and scope

Appended to the report were copies of the following documents for the information/comment of the meeting:-

a)  Terms of reference - Inquiry to review the method by which planning 

  applications are publicised and community involvement takes place

b)  Report of the Chief Planning Officer –Inquiry to review the method by 

  which planning applications are publicised and community involvement

takes place which had been considered at the Board meeting in February 2010

A copy of the following document entitled ‘Planning Aid – Witness Evidence to Leeds City Council Scrutiny Board investigating consultation procedures, meeting on 9^th March 2010’ was also circulated as Supplementary Information.

The following representatives were in attendance and responded to Members’ queries and comments:-

• Martin Sellens, Head of Planning Services, City Development
• Helen Cerroti, Development Project Manager, City Development
• Councillor Janet Thornton, East Keswick Parish Council
• Tony Ray, Planning Consultant
• Jacqui Baines and James Rogers, Planning Aid

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting then allowed a short presentation from each witness on their personal experiences of the processes and what they regarded as the main advantages and disadvantages of the present system and how it could be approved.

Jacqui Baines and James Rogers, Planning Aid

For the benefit of the meeting, Jacqui Baines gave a brief overview of Planning Aid.

Following this, she introduced her colleague, James Rogers, Planning Adviser to the meeting who referred to his paper entitled ‘Planning Aid – Witness Evidence to Leeds City Council Scrutiny Board investigating consultation procedures, meeting on 9^th March 2010’.

The evidence focused on the following themes:-

• Communication
• Procedures/Policies
• Quality of information and accessibility
• The roles of staff and Elected Members
• Quality Control

Tony Ray, Planning Consultant

At the request of the Chair, Mr Ray circulated a copy of a paper entitled ‘Scrutiny Board (City Development) 09/03/10 – Review of Community Involvement in Development Management’.

The evidence focused on the following themes:-

• Context
• Information/Notification
• Consultation
• Engagement

Councillor Janet Thornton, East Keswick Parish Council

In summary, Councillor Janet Thornton raised the following issues as part of her evidence:-

• the need for the Council and Planning Officers to engage more with Parish Councils
• the need to improve the levels of communication and for all planning decisions to be sent to Parish Councils as a matter of routine
• to endorse the possible recommended improvements outlined in 7.5 of the report of the Chief Planning Officer
• to endorse and support the Planning Aids recommendations around appeals against a refusal with the aim of ensuring that up to date information and notifications were available to third parties about the procedures
• the need to focus on engagement with the aim of having planning officers in attendance at Parish Council meetings to give relevant advice on major planning applications
• the need to adhere to original methods of consultation as opposed to e mail and mobile phone lines of communication

The Board noted the written and verbal evidence submitted by the above witnesses and confirmed that this would be considered as part of the Board’s Inquiry into this matter.

The Chair then sought comments from Board Members and those officers in attendance responded to the comments made.

In summary, specific reference was made to the following:-

• the need to congratulate the department on the further improvements to the online Public Access system
• the need  to introduce a diagram to aid the explanation of the enforcement process/appeal mechanism to assist the public
• the need to ensure that all documents produced by the Leeds Planning Service use plain English unless there was a statutory requirement code and to incorporate this within covering letters appended to Secretary of State correspondence
• the need to recognise the important role of Community Planners, especially at the pre application stage
• the need for more dialogue  between Planning and Town and Parish Council’s and the Town and Parish Councils Charter
• the need to extend Community Planners particularly in disadvantaged areas or at least having dedicated officers within Development Management for defined neighbourhoods for each Area Management Committee
• clarification of Planning Aids role in providing advice and guidance 

(Jacqui Baines, Planning Aid confirmed that they would respond to any requests where they could not afford other advice and met their eligibility criteria). They had a large number of volunteers who also worked for them as well as a small number of paid staff)

• clarification of whether or not Planning Aid had the capacity for demand

when assisting people with their planning enquiries

(Jacqui Baines, Planning Aid responded and informed the meeting that they had met all the demands placed upon them to date and  encouraged people to get in touch. They also provided training sessions when requested)

• clarification of approximately how many Planning Aid applications were from the Leeds area

(Jacqui Baines, Planning Aid responded and informed the meeting that approximately 380 general enquiries had been received of which 40 applications were from Leeds. Out of those 40 applications, 50% were eligible for assistance)

• the view that newspaper adverts had limited value and were not value for money
• that pre application meetings should be made more informal  with question and answer sessions, displays and feedback
• that the development of a database of community interest groups was well supported

In concluding, the Chair then invited the three witnesses to sum up and thanked them for their attendance and contribution to the meeting.

RESOLVED-

a)  That the contents of the report of the Chief Planning Officer and appendices be received and noted. 

b)   That the case studies and witness statement be received and noted. 

c)   That relevant issues identified at today's meeting be included in the 

Board’s final report due to be considered at the next Board meeting in 

April.

(Councillor N Taggart joined the meeting at 11.00am during discussions of the above item)