Sutherland Local Plan Pre-Deposit Draft 2008

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A Deposit Draft of the Sutherland Local Plan was approved by the Planning, Environment and Development Committee on 26 September 2007 and subsequently published for a 12 week consultation period during Winter 2007-08. The Draft Environmental Report was also published with opportunity to comment by the same deadline. Submissions received are being analysed to identify the individual objections and other representations made within them and begin considering the issues raised.

However, as reported to the Planning, Environment & Development Committee at its meeting on 19 March 2008, the Scottish Government urged the Council to re-consult on its assessment of the environmental effects of the Sutherland Local Plan. The reason was to offer an earlier and more effective opportunity for comment on these effects and the Council’s consideration of them. The Council therefore decided to publish an augmented Environmental Report and to offer another opportunity for comment before it makes decisions about the contents of a new, more finalised, Deposit Draft Plan.

A 6 week consultation period therefore ran from 16 May until 27 June 2008.  More information about that consultation was given in the formal Public Notice (12k).  However, people who made representations as part of the consultation during Winter 2007-08 were not to send these again and we wrote to advise them of that. All those representations are being carried forward and considered, together with those received as part of the further consultation.

An Information Sheet (14k) in a ‘questions and answers’ format was produced.  It deals with a number of questions that may be asked by people about the process that the Council is following.

The documents that were made available for comment were as follows:

• The Augmented Environmental Report which may be accessed from the Sutherland Local Plan - Strategic Environmental Assessment page - in particular this included a new Supplement to the Draft Environmental Report.
  
• The Pre-Deposit Draft Written Statement May 2008 (2.869MB), although it differed from the earlier Deposit Draft 2007 version only in its title and the first few, explanatory pages - for example, on explaining the plan stages.
  
• The Pre-Deposit Draft Mapping and relevant text which may be accessed from the Sutherland Local Plan Deposit Draft 2007 page, as it remained unchanged.  However, please first read the explanatory note inside the Cover for Map Booklet May 2008 (1.816MB).

A report on issues raised through consultation will be prepared for consideration by Committee in late summer 2008.