25 | November | 2014 | Keep Kempton Green

KKG – Document 84 Letter to John Brooks 25 November 2014

(The letter below was sent to all the Spelthorne Borough Councillors today. The letter to Mr John Brooks, Head of Planning, is attached. The full correspondence since 8 October between Mr Brooks and KKG is in Document 84, attached.)

Dear Councillor

Attached please find a letter sent today to Mr John Brooks, Head of Planning, and copied to the Spelthorne Residents Associations and your fellow Borough Councillors.

Various obligations to provide information and to work with local communities on the ongoing Review of our Local Plan are set out in The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and the Practical Planning Guidance from the Department of Communities and Local Government (Paragraph: 007 Reference ID: 2a-007-20140306).

The phrase used in the Guidance is “work with’. In this planning context, that phrase means a closer involvement than is meant by the word ‘consult’. It is clear that preparatory work on this Review has already been going on for some time. Local communities should have been involved with this process already, but have not been.

You will be very aware how this kind of exclusion, and failure to comply with what is required by law, planning guidance, and what is also simply good practice in terms of democratic accountability, merely fosters the widespread belief in this Borough that things are being hidden from residents for unacceptable purposes.

You will therefore no doubt agree that the inclusion of local communities in the preparation of the evidence base and any further work on our Local Plan should be put in place as soon as possible.

Yours