Statement of community involvement

Draft Statement of Community Involvement for consultation

The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is a statutory document, where we set out how we will engage with the public and affected communities on planning applications and prepare policy documents, including our Local Plan.

Why is this happening?

We are required by Government to produce an SCI. This document will replace the previous SCI that was adopted by the Council in 2006 and incorporate previous addendums from 2020 and 2022 which relate to plan making and design review panels.

The new SCI also considers changes to the planning system through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and any changes to legislation.

We are seeking your reviews on the draft document. Please feel free to comment on anything you may think may help us improve the document overall.

Why your views matters

The SCI outlines how the Council will involve local residents, businesses and other stakeholders in carrying out planning decisions.

The SCI also outlines the importance of pre-application engagement being undertaken by developers at the earliest possible stage of the design development. This will allow communities to have a meaningful role in shaping their places and allows developers to benefit from local knowledge.

At the end of the consultation period, and after reviewing all comments made by the public, a final SCI will be reported to Mayor and Cabinet to decide on formal approval.  

Have your say

To comment on the draft SCI you can:

• Fill in the following survey questions
• E-mail: planning.policy@lewisham.gov.uk
• Write to: Strategic Planning Team, 4th floor, Civic Suite, Catford SE6 4RX.

The consultation is open from Monday 20 February 2023 to 3 April 2023. Please submit any comments to us at planningpolicy@lewisham.gov.uk or https://consultation.lewisham.gov.uk/planning/consultation-on-the-statement-of-community-involve/

Previous changes to the Statement of Community Involvement for Design Review Panel referral

The modifications to the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) were agreed by Mayor and Cabinet on 12 January 2022. The SCI is revised at para 6.9, page 29 to allow:

• An update to the name for the Design Panel to the Lewisham Design Review Panel
• That schemes are taken at pre-application stage, rather than post formal planning submission.

Temporary changes to the Statement of Community Involvement

The temporary modifications to the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) which were agreed by Mayor and Cabinet on 10 June 2020 and extended for a further limited period on 16 September 2020 expired in March 2021. The associated changes to the Council’s Scheme of delegation have also come to an end.

At a meeting of 10 March 2021 the Mayor and Cabinet agreed temporary modifications to the Council's SCI be authorised for a further 18-month period to enable the following:

• Invitations to planning committee meetings and other communications and information (including publication of agendas) relating to planning committee meetings be carried out electronically wherever possible
• Make it explicit that people wishing to speak at planning committee will need to register to speak in advance of the meeting and will need to submit written copies of their speeches in advance of the meeting
• Local Meetings to be able to be held remotely
• Make any necessary amendments regarding the publication of planning applications, agendas and decisions.

These time-limited changes were agreed for a period of 18 months. Find more details about the Mayor and Cabinet meeting and the temporary changes.

Addendum to our adopted Statement of Community Involvement

An addendum to our adopted Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was approved by Mayor and Cabinet on 9 December 2020 and is now in force.

This addendum is mainly focused on amendments required for preparing planning policy documents. It does not include the emergency temporary modifications made to the SCI relating to planning applications or development management.