Changes made following consultation exercise
A major consultation exercise carried out by Wealden District Council has resulted in improvements to the Council’s proposed scheme for involving the community in planning the future development and preservation of the district.
“We received over 2,100 replies from people in Wealden, far in excess of response levels reported by other councils for the same process,” said Councillor Keith Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration. “We know planning is important to the people of Wealden. This consultation has helped us make a number of important changes in the way we will handle our Local Development Framework.”
Changes will be made to help people become most effectively involved in discussing the Local Development Framework, which will identify new areas for growth up to 2026. Improvements will include greater media involvement, easier-to-use website formats, more clearly-defined partnership working with key stakeholders including parish councils and neighbouring districts and making the consultation process as simple and transparent as possible. These improvements will be incorporated into the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement .
“Although we had a tremendous response to our SCI consultation, we still have trouble finding the views of residents under 30 years of age,“ said Councillor Whitehead. “They have a vital role to play in the future prosperity of Wealden and we will be looking to encourage them to have their say.”
The SCI consultation also took in public views on the consultation process used to handle individual planning applications. Wealden is one of the busiest planning authorities in the country, making over 3000 decisions every year.
The consultation showed the desire for more neighbourhood involvement in the application process, and growing popularity for pre-application meetings, in which a developer discusses a project with local people and organisations before finalising a planning application.
The Cabinet’s LDF sub-committee has agreed that these matters should be looked at by the Planning Improvement Working party.
The Statement of Community Involvement consultation involved a questionnaire being sent to every home in Wealden, drop-in sessions in Wealden towns and villages, a number of focus groups and meetings with special interest groups.
