To encourage greater involvement of the public in its decision making process, the Council recently introduced public speaking at its three Area Planning Sub-Committees and Planning Committee.
The new system was introduced at the Northern Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting on Wednesday last week, September 4.
The new initiative created a great deal of public interest - more than 60 people attended the meeting during which 16 members of the public spoke on planning applications.
The new system allows local parish/town councils, applicants/supporters, and objectors to speak for up to three minutes on planning applications, provided that they fulfil the necessary criteria.
This information is provided by the Planning Services Department.
Cllr Tom Hunt, Chairman of the Northern Area Planning Sub-Committee said it's anticipated that the new arrangements will prove popular for the public and Councillors are looking forward to forthcoming meetings of the Planning Committee and other Area Planning Sub-Committees to view its success.
“I was particularly pleased to Chair the very first meeting of the Council which permitted public speaking and thought that it proved to be extremely successful.
"Many of the speakers were really articulate and the whole process ran very smoothly. This is largely down to the hard work undertaken behind the scenes by officers from the Councils Members’ Services Department and Planning Department.
"Speaking is limited to three minutes per side mentioned in the above categories and it is essential that those wishing to speak prepare their presentation thoroughly before hand and ensure that there is an introduction and that they cover all the points they wish to clearly and concisely.
"It would also be an advantage for public speakers to rehearse their speech before hand so that they do not run out of time before all their points have been made," he added.
Those wishing to speak will be assisted at future meetings by the introduction of a “traffic light” type system which gives a visual indication of the three minutes available to speak.
Article updated on 2 Mar 2004 10:52 am