SPD Consultation Statement October 2019

PLANNING AND COMPULSORY PURCHASE ACT 2004 TOWN AND COUNTRY
PLANNING (LOCAL PLANNING) (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2012, REGULATION 12

This Consultation Statement has been prepared in accordance with Regulation 12(a) and (b) of the Town & Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. which states:

“Before a local planning authority adopt a supplementary planning document it must – (a) Prepare a statement setting out – (i) the persons the local authority consulted when preparing the supplementary planning document; (ii) a summary of the main issues raised by
those persons; and (iii) how those issues have been addressed in the supplementary planning document; and (b) for the purpose of seeking representations under regulation 13, make copies of that statement and the supplementary planning document available in
accordance with regulation 35 together with details of – (i) the date by which representations must be made (being not less than 4 weeks from the date the local planning authority complies with this paragraph), and (ii) the address to which they must be sent.”

This statement sets out details of the consultation that has taken place to date which has informed and refined the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). It sets out the details of how, when and with whom the initial consultation with interested parties and organisations took place and how this had informed the SPD.

The B&H Design Guide for Extensions and Alterations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD 12) was adopted in September 2013. Since the adoption of the SPD, local circumstances, national, regional and local planning policies have all substantially changed.
In particular there have been significant amendments to residential permitted development rights. These have allowed more extensive changes to dwelling-houses to happen without the need to obtain planning permission. Many of these changes go beyond limitations and good practice which were considered appropriate when SPD12 was adopted.

It is a good practice for Local Planning Authorities to periodically review development plan policies to ensure that they are up to date. The same is true of associated guidance. This is likely to result in sustaining its status as a material consideration in the determination of
planning applications.

The Updated Design Guide for Extensions & Alterations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD 12) seeks to provide guidance that is contemporary. It takes account of current permitted development rights and B&H’s ambition to support the continued regeneration of
the City through allowing development that adapts to existing occupiers’ needs. It is part of the suite of documents that seek to continue to raise the quality of the development that will take place in the City. It sets outs guidance specific to Brighton and Hove, recognising the
different characteristics of areas and the need for a design response tailored to these circumstances.

Brighton & Hove City Council with an exception of land that fall within South Downs National Park.

The SPD has been informed by a review led by the council’s planning policy team, with input from:

• urban design
• conservation
• landscape
• development management teams internally and a range of stakeholder externally

Early consultation was also undertaken with Planning Agents Forum (PAF) to discuss the gaps in the current document and scoping of the new document. The Forum is an umbrella organisation for over 200 town planning and architectural firms based in Brighton making
them one of the biggest user groups for the SPD.

In summary, there was an overwhelming support for moving away from an approach that relied on detailed prescriptions; shortening the document for user friendliness; making it more Brighton specific along with some comments on specific design details. A meeting was held on 2 November 2018 and the feedback from this engagement is included in appendix 2. Alongside this feedback the council reviewed Appeal decisions and conducted internal consultation to inform the new draft of the revised document which was consulted.

The SPD has been prepared in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Consultation on the draft SPD is a requirement of Part 5 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) 2012 Regulations and has been undertaken in accordance with those Regulations and the council’s Statement of Community Involvement. The council’s
Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) sets out policy and standards for engaging residents, local groups, stakeholders and statutory consultees in the preparation of planning-related documents. The public consultation was carried out in accordance with this
statement. There was a 6 week public consultation period which began on the 5 July 2019 and closed on the 16 August 2019. There were bespoke meetings held with PAF at scoping stage (2 November 2018) and as part of the public consultation (30 August 2019) to collect feedback from the PAF.

During the consultation period:

• the SPD was made available on a dedicated website through Citizen Portal. Hard copies were made available in council offices and 15 libraries across the city:
  • Hangleton Library
  • Hove Library
  • Hollingbury Library
  • Mile Oak Library
  • Moulsecoomb Library
  • Patcham Library
  • Portslade Library
  • Rottingdean Library
  • Saltdean Library
  • Westdene Library
  • Whitehawk Library
  • Woodingdean Library)
• interested groups on the Local Plan consultation database were emailed and invited to comment
• a press release was issued
• the consultation was publicised via social media

Consultation comments have been taken into consideration in the preparation of the revised document and responses are identified within Appendix 2. Consultation comments received related to 10 questions.

The consultation generated 10 responses (6 returned via online tool; 3 via email and one via bespoke meeting). The online survey respondents included two representatives of organisations and six individual citizens. Responses have been largely positive to the
approach, structure and details provided in the updated SPD. Responses that were returned via feedback email included Highways England, RSPB, Brighton Society and an individual citizen. A summary of consultation feedback and responses is given in Appendix 1.

Given the early contribution of PAF at the scoping stage, the council invited PAF for a further bespoke meeting with the intention to gather their views on the consultation draft SPD. The meeting was held on 30 August 2019. The notes from the meeting are
incorporated in the Table in Appendix 1.

These comments together with recommended changes to the Draft Residential Extensions & Alterations Supplementary Planning Document will be presented to the council’s Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee on 21 November 2019 for its consideration and adoption. Once adopted, SPD 12 will be revoked.

To view the consultation responses, download the PDF version. You'll find this above the contents on this page.