Agenda item

This report advises Cabinet of the representations received following consultation on the Sudbury Town Residents’ Association’s application to be the Neighbourhood Forum for the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Area and seeks a decision on the application.

Cabinet RESOLVED, having considered the representations received following consultation on Sudbury Town Residents’ Association’s (STRA) application to be the Neighbourhood Forum for the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Area, as set out in Appendix F of the report:

(1)    To confirm that the Council refused STRA’s application to be the Neighbourhood Forum for the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Area as set out in the refusal statement in Appendix G of the report.

Eligible for call-in: Yes

Deadline for submission of call-in: 6pm on Thursday 23 November 23

Councillor Tatler (as Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Growth) introduced a report outlining the outcome of the consultation process undertaken on an application from the Sudbury Town Residents’ Association (STRA) to be the Neighbourhood Forum for the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Area and seeking a decision on the application.

In presenting the report, Councillor Tatler reminded members of the original background behind the introduction of neighbourhood planning which had been to provide residents and businesses in a specific area with the opportunity to engage in the identification of localised planning policies designed to assist in shaping development outcomes across the relevant area.  Where local communities wanted to take up these opportunities there was a requirement to establish a Neighbourhood Forum as the relevant “qualifying body” with a requirement for Forum status to be renewed every five years.  Members were advised that STRA had initially been designated as a Forum in December 2012 with the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Plan having subsequently been adopted in September 2015.  They had then successfully reapplied for Forum status in December 2017 with the current application to renew this status submitted in December 2022.  As required, the current application had been subject to a statutory consultation process which had run from January – February 2023 with a summary of the responses detailed within Appendix F of the report.  Of the 30 responses received members were advised that seven were in support of STRAs continued designation as a Forum, 16 had raised objections and the remaining seven had been submitted by statutory consultees.  As part of the consultation responses, members also noted that a prospective counter application for Neighbourhood Forum status had been received from another organisation “Sudbury Matters”.  Given the issues raised in objection to STRAs application as part of the response to the consultation (as detailed within section 3.2.13 of the report) and as it was only possible for one Forum to be designated in any specific area, attempts had been made to engage and arbitrate with STRA utilising an independent organisation who specialised in providing support to local community organisations.  Despite these efforts. Members were advised it had not been possible to resolve the concerns identified and having applied the statutory criteria and tests (as set out within the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012) in assessing the application and considered the outcome of the consultation process and lack of progress it had been possible to make with STRA in addressing the issues identified, it had been recommended that STRAs application for Neighbourhood Forum status should be refused.

Members were supportive of the approach outlined, having considered the attempts made to engage with STRA and representations received following consultation on their application for Neighbourhood Forum status, which it was noted had included concerns relating to the transparency, accessibility and diversity of the organisation along with a lack of focus on neighbourhood planning activities or clarity on the distinction between the Forum and wider Resident Association business and perceived lack of political impartiality.

Officers were thanked for their work in engaging with STRA throughout the renewal process and it was RESOLVED to confirm that the Council refuse STRA’s application to be the Neighbourhood Forum for the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Area as set out in the refusal statement in Appendix G of the report.