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General Question – 17th December 2009 |
Under
Standing Order 14, Councillor L.E. Nichols, on behalf of Councillor Mrs. C.E.
Nichols, asked the following question:
“At the last Council meeting (29th October 2009) the
Leader, Councillor J D Packman was pleased to report the appointment of Trevor
Roberts Associates Ltd, experts in planning control, to review the Council’s Planning arrangements (Minute 343/09). Residents in my ward
will be interested to know the outcome of this review and some of them will
want to provide input into the review.
I note that a final report is expected in March but
can the Leader amplify how, and when residents will be contacted to submit
their views, and by what method; for example, will submissions be taken by interview,
letter or formal questionnaire? Could
the Leader also advise whether all residents may make a submission? How
is the timetable for the process being advertised and where will the final
report be published; will the full report be available through the public pages
of Spelthorne Borough Council's website?”
Councillor
H.A. Thomson responded as follows:
“The Council fully recognises the importance of
obtaining the views of those who come into contact with the planning
service. We need feedback in order to
understand where we need to continue to improve. It is for this reason we insisted that as
part of the brief, Trevor Roberts Associates incorporate the results of various
satisfaction surveys in their final report even though this is not their standard
approach.
I am pleased to inform all members that a
satisfaction survey has already gone out to all Residents Associations and
Amenity Groups on 2 December. At the
same time, surveys were sent to Applicants and Agents who had submitted
applications to the Council in the last six months. In addition a survey also went out to all
Councillors for their views on 10 December and I would ask them to respond to
this. The Leader of the Liberal
Democrats was emailed a copy of all three questionnaires/surveys on 2 December
(in advance of them being formally issued).
I would have hoped that he would have forwarded this information onto
the rest of his party Members.
A further survey will also be going out in the New
Year (to avoid the Christmas period) to objectors who have commented on
planning applications which have been recently considered by the Council. This is considered the best way of getting
focused comments from those residents who have had actual direct contact with
the planning service.
I trust all Councillors will recognise that the
Council is taking the review seriously and that we are engaging with as many
people as possible to obtain their views after which the actions identified
will then be considered by the Cabinet.
The final report is due by the end of March 2010.”
Under
Standing Order 14.2, Councillor L.E. Nichols, on behalf of Councillor Mrs. C.E.
Nichols, asked the following supplementary questions:
“(1) Will written submissions / survey responses
sent to the Council by any Borough resident, who was not approached direct by
the Council, be allowed and be accepted as consultation feedback and be
included so that the resident’s views will be considered?
(2) Will the final report be available on the
Council’s Website?”
Councillor
H.A. Thomson responded on the following lines:
“(1) Yes, all written submissions / survey responses
sent to the Council by any Borough resident will be allowed and will be
accepted as consultation feedback and will be included so that the resident’s
views will be considered.
(2) Yes, the full final report will be made
available on the Council’s Website.”