Preparation of a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is a requirement of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The SCI sets out how the Council intends to engage and consult local communities and others in preparation of a range of planning documents. It also covers how the Council consults on planning applications and other development control matters within the whole of Newcastle.
On 6 September 2006 the SCI for Newcastle was formally adopted. All planning documents prepared as part of the Local Development Framework (LDF) now have to be in accordance with this SCI. The full document can be downloaded via the following link:
The process for producing the SCI for Newcastle began early in 2005 and involved several rounds of consultation with local communities and others, in order to develop a method of consultation that is suitable for all groups and organisations, allowing everyone to have a say.
The Pre Submission Proposals for the SCI were approved at the Council’s Executive on 15 June 2005 and published on 30 June 2005. Consultation was carried out on the Pre Submission Proposals document from 30 June to 12 August 2005. You will find links below to this version of the SCI and the related documents.
The comments received during the Pre Submission consultation were reviewed and amendments to the SCI considered. A revised version of the SCI - called the Submission Draft - was approved by the Council’s Executive on 28 September 2005. This was submitted to central government on 29 September, together with a Statement of Consultation that reported on the first stage of consultation outlined above. A six week consultation period followed this, ending on 11 November. Again, these documents are available to download below.
The purpose of submitting the SCI to central government is so that the document can be examined for ‘soundness’. This means that the document is tested, to see if it complies with all the relevant regulations both in the final content and in the way it had been prepared. This examination is carried out on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Planning Inspectorate National Service (PINS).
30 representations were made following the Submission of the SCI, with both supporting comments and objections. 11 people or organisations made at least one objection, but as no person asked for a public hearing, the representations were considered by an independent inspector on the basis of written submissions. You will find below links to the Representations Statement, which summarised the representations that were made, plus recent correspondence with the Planning Inspectorate National Service (PINS).
The final report from the independent inspector, which we received on 6 June 2006, was binding upon the Council. We have published this report below. We amended the SCI in line with the recommendations and took this final draft to the Planning and Transportation Strategy Committee on 20 July 2006 to seek endorsement before the full Council adopted the document in September. A copy of this amended SCI is also available below. The final adopted SCI is available at the top of this page.
Colin Percy
Team Manager Planning Policy
Tel: 0191 211 5645
Fax: 0191 211 4806
Email: ldf@newcastle.gov.uk
This page was last updated 21 February 2008.
Page last updated: 16 August, 2011
