Statement of Community Involvement

Coronavirus Impact - Statement of Community Involvement

With social distancing restrictions as the result of Covid-19, it is not possible to fulfil all of the requirements of the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) (March 2018) . In order to continue to progress Local Plan documents and provide opportunities for people to be involved in the planning process in a safe manner it is appropriate to suspend parts of the SCI (March 2018) temporarily and to provide alternative arrangements.

With immediate effect the Council will suspend part of the Council’s SCI (March 2018) insofar as it relates to: -

The provision of paper copies of consultation documents at the County Library, Customer Service Centre, and Grafton House subject to [a] review in the event that the government changes the requirements for social distancing and isolation related to Covid-19 within that period or [b] review on or before 31 December 2020.
Planning application consultation arrangements will be applied in accordance with the legislative changes of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure, Listed Buildings and Environmental Impact Assessment) (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
That the SCI will be implemented in accordance with any other legislation that might be introduced in the interests of the protection of public safety relating to coronavirus.

Please note that these temporary regulatory changes expired on the 31 December 2020 but because of continuing uncertainty about the spread of Covid-19 have been extended. These further temporary changes support planning authorities to continue to progress up-to-date Local Plans by removing legal requirements to make certain development plan documents available for inspection at premises and to provide hard copies on request. The documents must, instead, be made available for inspection online. These temporary regulatory changes have been rolled forward for another 12 months to 31 December 2021.

What is a Statement of Community Involvement?

Community involvement helps to ensure that planning policies and decisions on planning applications are effective and reflect the needs of the local area. For this reason, the council is committed to ensuring that all sections of the community understand how they can engage in the planning process.

The Ipswich Statement of Community Involvement sets out how Ipswich Borough Council will engage with the community and other consultees in respect of planning policies and planning applications.

The Statement of Community Involvement sets out: