The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires all Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to prepare a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). The SCI must set out the LPA’s policy for involving the community in the preparation and revision of all local development documents and in development control decisions within its local area.
Following an initial round of consultation at the end of 2004, Wiltshire County Council prepared its Submission draft SCI for public consultation and submitted it to the Secretary of State for the purposes of independent examination. The Submission draft document built upon the earlier draft by and seeks to addressing the concerns and comments received during the initial consultation exercise.
Copies of the following documents were submitted to the Secretary of State :
A six week period of consultation for the Submission draft document ran from Friday 20 May 2005 until Friday 8 July 2005. The consultation period was advertised in the press (copy appended below).
All responses recieved by Wiltshire County Council during the consultation period were collated and fowarded to the Planning Inspectorate for the purposes of progressing the independent examination. The collated responses for the Submission Draft Wiltshire Statement of Community Involvement can be viewed through the link below:
The process of examining the 'soundness' of the submitted draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) took longer than anticipsted to formally commence. This was due to the fact that the County Council ran two phases of early preparatory work together (the so called, Regulation 25 and Regulation 26 phases of 'pre-submission' work). However, after satisfying the Planning Inspectorate that the actions of the Authority had not unduly prejudiced the abilityof consultees to fully engage with the SCi preparatory process, the examination phase commenced in earnest in October / November 2005.
The examination investigated whether the submitted SCI met the ‘nine tests of soundness’ set out in Planning Policy Statement 12. As part of this phase of work an 'informal hearing' was arranged to hear objections to the SCI in public. The hearing took place on 7th February 2006 at the Devizes Town Hall. A copy of the legal notice of advertisiment for the event can be found through the link provided below.
Following the 'informal hearing and after considering all the objections received in connection with the SCI, the appointed Planning Inspector submitted her Report into the 'soundness' of the document to the County Counil on 16th March 2006.
In accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (section 20(8)) and the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004 (Regulation 35) a copy of the appointed Inspector's Report can be found through the link below:
The SCI was formally adopted by resolution of the County Council on 11 July 2006. The “Adoption Statement” has been adverstised in the press and copies of the adopted SCI will be made available at the following locations during normal opening hours:
The Adopted SCI and a copy of the Adoption Statement (as advertised in the local press) can also be downloaded from the links below.
Any person who feels aggrieved by the decision of the County Council to adopt its Statement of Community Involvement may apply to the High Court for permission to apply for judicial review of the decision to adopt the statement. Any such application must be made promptly and in any event not later than 3 months after the day on which the statement was adopted.
If you require any further information on the SCI or the adoption arrangements please contact the Minerals Policy team.
By Post
Local Plans and Development Control
Wiltshire County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JD
By Email
mineralsandwastepolicy@wiltshire.gov.uk
By Telephone
01225 713213
By Fax
01225 713437
By Hand
County Hall, Trowbridge
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