On the 23 September 2011 the Council adopted a reviewed Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). This is a key document that sets out how and when the Council will involve the community and other interested people and organisations in the preparation of our policies and guidelines, including those related to planning and development. It also discusses community involvement in relation to planning application decisions and explains the role of the Council and that of applicants or their agents.

The SCI enforces the importance of the Council's active approach to community involvement in planning, including the value it places on the contributions from a wide range of people within the community, whatever form these may take - ranging from formal comments to people offering opinions and insights and their expertise.

While there has been greater involvement from the community more recently in responding to Council consultations through Local Development Framework documents, there are some groups that rarely respond to consultations such as young people and the business community. The SCI looks at ways to increase involvement from these ‘seldom heard groups’.

The SCI is not intended to be a detailed discussion of the different methods the Council will use to involve people, but to outline the Council’s approach. It describes how the Council is already involving the community as well as further work it will be undertaking to strengthen community involvement over time.

	Click here to view the Statement of Community Involvement 2011 online (new browser window)
	Click here to download a pdf copy of the Statement of Community Involvement 2011