The Applicant requested feedback on its draft Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC)

Thank you for providing a copy of your draft SoCC on 2 October 2013, on which we make the following observations:
We note that you have not yet commenced consultation on the content of your SoCC with the relevant local authorities under s47(2) of the Planning Act 2008. Please note that, under s47(3), you should allow a minimum period of 28 days for comment.
In addition to the above, please note that paragraph 31, DCLG Planning Act 2008: Guidance on pre-application process (2013) states that: "where a local authority decides that it does not wish to respond to a consultation request on the Statement of Community Consultation, the applicant should make reasonable efforts to ensure that all affected communities are consulted."
We note that in your draft SoCC you use the terms "formal" and "informal" when describing the two stages of consultation. In the interests of clarity we advise you only to use the terms ?statutory? and ?non-statutory?. Furthermore, it is useful for applicants to use consistent terminology between their SoCC and Consultation Report. It is for the applicant to determine how to explain their consultation approach. However, it must be clear which stages of consultation were ?statutory? and ?non- statutory? and under which sections of the Planning Act 2008 statutory consultation was undertaken.
The draft SoCC does not appear to mention when you intend to commence consultation under s42. If you are intending to carry out consultation under both s.42 and s.47 at the same time, please be aware that on or before commencing statutory consultation under s.42 you must provide the Secretary of State with notification under s.46 of the Planning Act 2008.
We would also draw your attention to DCLG Planning Act 2008: Guidance on pre-application process (2013), which states "where an iterative consultation is intended, it may be advisable for applicants to carry out the final stage of consultation with persons who have an interest in the land [As set out in section 44 of the Planning Act 2008] once they have worked up their project proposals in sufficient detail to identify affected land interests".
In more general terms, please note that it is advisable for applicants to ensure that the summary of relevant responses received during all pre-application consultation is captured within the Consultation Report. In addition, all applicants are advised to explain how those responses influenced the proposal and how those changes were applied as a result of comments received (please see the Planning Inspectorate?s Advice Note 14 for further information).