The Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was a statutory document that set out how and when the Council carried out consultations and involved the community in both the preparation of planning policy and in the determination of planning applications.

Whilst the existing SCI adopted in 2018 continued to meet most statutory requirements in terms of plan-making, there was now greater focus on early engagement, which was the challenge.  The Council had already improved engagement in the planning process, through changes to the public speaking scheme, including making it more accessible and inclusive to town and parish councils, and the success of live broadcasting meetings, some of which had attracted 700 viewers, the with average at around 350. 

It was also considered opportune to update the SCI in advance of any statutory consultation on the forthcoming new Local Plan.  It also incorporated several changes, namely the closure of the Rye Community Help-Point (where planning policy documents were made available for public viewing), updated public speaking scheme at Planning Committee and the Council’s temporary COVID-19 Addendum, the use of online platforms (MS Teams and Zoom) to increase engagement opportunities, as well as incorporating some minor layout / format changes.

Members were disappointed to note that the environmental impact for the SCI had not been considered within the report – there would be clear environmental wins through the increased use of online platforms for consultation through the reduction in travel, which was just one example.

The draft SCI was appended to the report at Appendix 1; a six-week consultation was proposed and comments raised would be considered in finalising the document, which would be presented to Cabinet and full Council for adoption in due course.

RESOLVED: That the draft updated Statement of Community Involvement as attached at Appendix 1 to the report be approved for public consultation.