Object

Representation ID: 14262

Received: 14/12/2020

Respondent: Councillor Max McLoughlin

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The Local Plan consultation process has been highly problematic and should have been extended. It has been rushed which has resulted in errors and issues.
• There were grounds for extending the duration of consultation beyond the minimum 6-week period, like other local authorities.
• COVID19 has caused disruptions to the circulation of local newspapers which is the primary means of communication on planning matters.
• Many of the supporting documents were uploaded immediately prior to consultation or afterwards which is not best practice.
• There were errors in the evidence base documentation such as the date of reports and broken links and missing files.
• The administration claimed that “there’s nothing new here” in the Plan which is misleading and jeopardises residents having their say.
• Many respondents have had difficulties using the consultation portal.
• It is poor procedure that the automated response from psp@solihull.gov.uk stated that if respondents didn’t reference page and paragraph numbers their responses would be discarded.
• The dates of when files were uploaded have not been provided which has hampered the ability to respond meaningfully.
• No date of publication was agreed by Full Council or Cabinet after the decision to approve publication.