Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director City Development.

The Director introduced the report and referred to the extensive and inclusive public consultation in respect of the draft Local Plan. He thanked the Assistant Service Lead (Local Plan) and his team for their hard work in preparing for the consultation and their presence at a series of roadshows held throughout the city. The responses and level of engagement have created a good level of baseline data and the team were already preparing to commence the next consultation in October. 

The Assistant Service Lead (Local Plan) provided an overview of the consultation carried out on the outline draft Exeter plan last autumn. A report would be presented to the Executive next month summarising the consultation which looked at 28 policies and sites. The team had made a significant effort over the 12 weeks extended consultation period. There had been a higher profile and digital presence, with a new engagement platform, 15 exhibitions as well as direct engagement with students from the University of Exeter and Exeter College as well as a number of community groups, press releases, banners, posters, digital screens, and an advertising campaign on Council vehicles being used.

There had been good levels of engagement with 1,500 individual respondents having provided more than 3,400 individual responses on a policy, site or issue; 700 comments were received as a result of a quick survey and more than 15,000 hits were made on the City Council’s web site. More than 1,000 people attended the exhibitions providing an opportunity for the team to engage with the community in some depth.

The key issues drawn from the consultation included:-

·      Tackling climate change;

·      Supporting development that would reduce the need to travel, and

·      Providing good quality homes.

In general terms, over 50% of comments made were positive with clear support for brownfield development over green field sites as an overarching strategy. There was also support for other policies including the protection of valley parks, improvement of digital communication, particularly in relation to new development, and ensuring green infrastructure. There was no correlation between the scale of the 29 sites proposed and the number of responses.

Further detail on policy on a site by site basis would be published in the full consultation document, but the consultation undertaken had offered a good basis to move forward for the next draft of the Exeter Plan and future engagement.

The Assistant Service Lead (Local Plan) responded to the following Members’ comments:-

·      apart from the top three issues raised during the consultation, specific detail and statistics from the consultation would be included in the forthcoming report to the Executive.

·      the quick survey on the development strategy resulted in a range of comments on a site by site basis which could explain why there was, in some cases, considerable local activity on particular sites and the team would take such comments on board.

Members welcomed the report with many comments including:-

·      an appreciation of the effort made to engage with the public at a number of levels and with a more creative approach.

·      affordable homes for local people, as well as quality homes were needed.

·      turnout at the Beacon Centre roadshow was low and the Member hoped that such areas would be encouraged to participate in further consultation. The Member went on to comment on the demographic of respondents and suggested that younger people age groups had been less engaged in the consultation and if there were any plans to carry out consultation in schools, as the Plan would cover the generation that will inherit the city.

·      whilst further detailed information from the forthcoming Executive report was awaited, a Member supported any opportunity to engage with the younger population.

·      the consultation had noted the importance of having a safe and secure place to live, but capturing the comments of those with less of a voice should be recognised.

·      there could be a greater level of engagement when larger developments were taking place, with consistent themes raised in relation to student accommodation, scale, design, affordability or the impact on services and infrastructure. The Member suggested there may be benefits in carrying out a similar consultation on a much smaller scale in such cases. 

The Director appreciated the suggestion as it was important to be aware of local views and how to respond to a Local Plan. The next stage of the consultation will pose a challenge, but will continue to shape the Plan to ensure it was effective and meaningful.

The Portfolio Holder City Development commented on the relatively low numbers from the consultation in Beacon Heath and would welcome looking at other ways to specifically engage groups within the community, as well as school students.  The efforts to reach over 1,053 respondents should be congratulated and she was aware that the team continued to find ways to find ways to develop the consultation opportunities even further.

Strategic Scrutiny Committee noted the summary of the outline draft Exeter Plan consultation.