Issue - items at meetings - Public Questions/ Letters from Councillors/Referrals from Committees/Notices of Motion referred from Council

42.1 There were none.

33.1 There were none.

4.1 There were none.

72.1 At the invitation of the Chairman, Secretary and Founder Member of Brighton Society Selma Montford, spoke to the meeting about a letter requesting scrutiny on behalf of the Brighton Society, one of the signatory organisations.

72.3 Ms Montford said public participation in planning had been a concern locally for many years. Acknowledging the difficulty in designing a professional questionnaire she said planning officers should not be expected to do this as they did not necessarily have training. Giving an example she said some questions were ‘ridiculous’ in her view.

72.3 Ms Montford stressed that giving information was quite different from consultation. Residents would feel happier if they were given feedback on their views and reasons for and against decisions made.

72.4 ‘Consultations’ - usually only ‘information’ she said -  from developers were a particular worry, especially because the outcomes were not normally available and this led to distrust. Results of developers’ questionnaires should be published, she stated.

72.5 The more members of the public were consulted, the less likely they were to comment or object on a planning application formally to the Council, on the wrong assumption that ‘I don’t need to do this again.’ Therefore care was needed in asking for people’s views. She questioned why surveys asked about religion and sexual orientation as some people found these annoying and unnecessary.

72.6 Ms Montford gave examples of good practice; for instance consultation regarding The Level and monthly meetings with residents in recent years on a major redevelopment.

72.7 In discussing the request for scrutiny the meeting heard that a regular update to OSC was scheduled on implementing the Community Engagement Framework. It was suggested that an additional section be requested in that report to address the issues raised here, to include a consideration of planning consultation and best practice and guidance for developers. Examples of questionnaires could be provided and reasons for the equalities questions and statistics fully clarified.

72.8 Members referred to the Government’s localism agenda and agreed it was important for the local authority to ensure meaningful consultation and that those involved felt they were being listened to.

72.9 Amenity groups could be invited back to provide comments.

72.10 RESOLVED; that in the scheduled update report to OSC on the Community Engagement Framework, officers be asked to include a section addressing the concerns raised in the request for scrutiny, as minuted above.

59.1 There were none.

48.1 There were none.