Public to have say on plans for development in North Yorkshire

The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) will set out how residents, businesses and organisations can have a say in the preparation of the county’s Local Plan, neighbourhood plans and planning applications.

The statutory document will cover all areas of planning where there is engagement with the local community.

Members of North Yorkshire Council’s executive approved a draft SCI for the county on Tuesday, July 18.

This will undergo six weeks of consultation, starting towards the end of the summer. The document will then come back for further consideration before being adopted by the authority.

The council must prepare a Local Plan, excluding the National Parks for the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, and a minerals and waste plan for the county, with the SCI one of the first stages in that process.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for open for business, including planning, Cllr Derek Bastiman, said: “We must prepare and adopt a Local Plan and the first stage in achieving this is setting out our strategy for engagement. We want this process to be inclusive and engaging.

“The long-term ambition of adopting a Local Plan can affect all services, as it will set the tone for development across the county by allocating sites and policies – the statement of community involvement will give local people a chance to have their say.”

Details of the public consultation will be published on North Yorkshire Council’s website here once they have been finalised.