Dear Mr Woods

Thank you for your email received on 15 July 2014 requesting information about Greenbelt Land.

I have recorded your request for information under reference F2014.07.459.

This has been passed to the relevant service and you will receive a response by 12 August 2014.

In line with guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the council may make a charge for the provision of information – for example in order to cover the costs of postage (in line with the relevant postal charges) or charges for printing and copying (which will reflect photocopying charges levied by the council’s public libraries).

You will be informed if a fee is to be applied before information is to be provided.

If you need further information please contact me.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information
Knowsley MBC
Archway Road
Huyton
Knowsley
Merseyside
L36 9UX

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Dear Mr Woods,

Freedom of Information request F2014-07-459

We have looked into your request for information about greenbelt land
Knowsley Lane public consultation, and our response is shown below.

·       With regard to greenbelt land on Knowsley Lane, North Huyton, can
you tell me when, and how local residents, residents groups, landowners
and tenants in the immediate area, were informed of the proposals to
change the land from greenbelt to SUE?

·       Exactly how many local residents and groups mentioned above were
notified, how many letters were sent out?

·       How can residents object to the proposals?

Consultation on the Knowsley Local Plan Core Strategy

The emerging Knowsley Local Plan Core Strategy is the document which
currently proposes the allocation of the Knowsley Lane area as a
Sustainable Urban Extension. The Council has been preparing the Core
Strategy for several years, and its preparation process has included a
number of periods of public consultation. The dates of these consultation
periods are set out in the table below.

┌───────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┐
│Consultation Stage │Period │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Issues and Options Consultation │27 November 2009 – 22 January 2010 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Preferred Options Consultation │27 June 2011 – 5 September 2011 │
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│Proposed Submission Consultation │8 November 2012 – 21 December 2012 │
└───────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘

At each consultation stage, the Council has used a wide number of methods
of consultation. The guidance for how the Council consults at each stage
is set out within the adopted [1]Statement of Community Involvement
(Knowsley MBC, 2007). The consultations have also been undertaken in
accordance with the appropriate Government Regulations (the Town and
Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012).

The consultation was particularly wide ranging at the "Issues and Options"
and "Preferred Option" stages. Each of these stages involved:

·       a leafleting campaign aimed at reaching all households in
Knowsley;

·       Items within the “Knowsley News” magazine sent to households in
Knowsley;

·       E-mails and letters to landowners, developers, statutory agencies,
environmental and community groups, neighbouring local authorities, and
private individuals in accordance with the Council's Local Plan
consultation database (NB. the database has been added to regularly as the
Council has developed the Plan and includes those who responded to earlier
stages);

·       Staffed drop-in events in each of Knowsley's township areas
(including in Huyton and Stockbridge Village);

·       presentations to the Area Partnership Boards and Town and Parish
Councils (including Knowsley Town (previously Parish) Council);

·       Use of the Council website and Facebook/Twitter, press notices and
newspaper articles.

After each consultation stage, the Council has produced a report which
summarised how the consultation was undertaken and a summary of the
responses received. When the Council submitted the Plan to the Government
in July 2013 it published a further detailed “Statement of Previous
Consultation”. Table 2 (on page 9) of this document summarises all of the
consultation methods used in the previous consultation stages.

Further information is available in the documents in the table below. This
includes links to the primary consultation materials, and the
aforementioned reports and statements of consultation.

┌───────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Stage │Relevant Publications │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Issues and Options │·       [2]Issues and Options Paper (November 2009) │
│Consultation │ │
│ │·       [3]Issues and Options Consultation Leaflet │
│ │(November 2009) │
│ │ │
│ │·       [4]Core Strategy Issues and Options Paper – │
│ │Report of Consultation (March 2010) (and separate │
│ │[5]Appendix) │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Preferred Options │·       [6]Preferred Options Report (June 2011) │
│Consultation │ │
│ │·       [7]Preferred Options Consultation Leaflet │
│ │(June 2011) │
│ │ │
│ │·       [8]Core Strategy Preferred Options Report – │
│ │Report of Consultation (December 2011) │
│ │ │
│ │·       [9]Core Strategy – Accounting for Preferred │
│ │Options Consultation (November 2012) │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Proposed Submission│·       [10]Proposed Submission Document (November │
│Consultation │2012) │
│ │ │
│ │·       [11]Statement of Previous Consultation │
│ │(November 2012) │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│Submission of the │·       [12]Submission Document (July 2013) │
│Plan to Government │ │
│ │·       [13]Statement of Previous Consultation – │
│ │Submission Version (July 2013) │
│ │ │
│ │·       [14]Report of Representations Received (July│
│ │2013) │
└───────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Opportunities for further involvement

The Knowsley Local Plan Core Strategy has now reached an advanced stage of
preparation. As noted, the Council submitted the Plan to the Government in
July 2013 and the Plan is now subject to an ongoing Examination in Public
by a Government Planning Inspector. Initial public hearing sessions took
place in November 2013. The Inspector’s [15]Interim Findings (published
in January 2014) advised that he considered the areas identified by the
Council for release from the Green Belt were “sound” and therefore
appropriate (paragraph 11). This included the site at Knowsley Lane, which
the Council has identified for a mix of employment and residential uses.
In paragraph 10 the Inspector specified that a significant area of the
land at Knowsley Lane should be released from the Green Belt for business
park uses.

To address the Inspector’s concerns the Council proposes to make a number
of changes or “modifications” to the current Core Strategy. These include
allocating a number of locations (previously identified for longer term
removal from the Green Belt) as “Sustainable Urban Extensions” to be
removed from the Green Belt immediately when the Core Strategy is adopted.
This includes the land at Knowsley Lane, for which a new specific policy
has been proposed, as set out as Policy SUE2a within the [16]Schedule of
Proposed Modifications to the Core Strategy (page 124-125). This policy
specifies the Council's proposed mix of uses for the site, which includes
employment development, residential development, and the retention of open
space and playing pitches. It should be emphasised that the proposed
modifications and the remaining Plan are still subject to change until the
Core Strategy is finalised.

These “modifications” to the Core Strategy are to be the subject to
re-convened Examination Hearings (led by the Inspector) over the period
22-24 July 2014. Subsequent to this, the Council expects to undertake a
public consultation on the modifications later in the summer of 2014. This
consultation will be widely publicised, using a variety of methods,
including the Councils website, media releases, public notices,
consultation events and letters to residents who live close to the sites
proposed for removal from the Green Belt. Further updates on this matter
will be available on the Council’s website at
[17]www.knowsley.gov.uk/localplan. Key documents will also be available to
view in Council libraries and One Stop Shops during normal opening hours.

Following the consultation, all responses would be forwarded to the
Inspector for consideration. He is only likely to give significant weight
to comments which specifically address the modifications to the Plan, and
any responses which raise matters which have already been determined in
the Plan process are unlikely to be given much weight. Respondents will
therefore be advised to focus any representations specifically on the
effect of the modifications on the legal compliance and/or soundness of
the Plan. Guidance will be issued at the start of the consultation as to
how they may do this.

This may mean that consultation responses should not revisit the principle
of Green Belt release at Knowsley Lane (which the Inspector has already
considered and has found to be appropriate), and instead should focus on
the formal allocation of the Green Belt site as a “Sustainable Urban
Extension” (which would result in the earlier release of Green Belt than
previously proposed) and the specific planning policies proposed to guide
its development (i.e. Policy SUE2a, mentioned above).

If you need further information please see contact details below.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information

Knowsley MBC

Archway Road

Huyton

Knowsley

Merseyside

L36 9UX

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Woods,

Freedom of Information request F2014-07-459

We have looked into your request for information about Greenbelt Land, Knowsley Lane, and our response is shown below.

Knowsley Lane Consultation
Response from Knowsley Council – 16 October 2014

• You stated, "The Inspector’s [Interim Findings (published in January 2014) advised that he considered the areas identified by the Council for release from the Green Belt were “sound” and therefore appropriate (paragraph 11). "
• The Inspector's Interim Findings, simply states that the areas identified by the Council for release from the Green Belt were “sound” and therefore appropriate (paragraph 11), and no reasons to support his findings, are given.
• This is unacceptable. Can you give me his reasons, or point me to where I would find his reasons

Inspector’s Interim Findings

The Inspector issued Interim Findings in January 2014. He then issued further Interim Findings in August 2014. These Interim Findings documents are available to view on the Council’s website (documents EX26 and EX34).

The Interim Findings documents have, as previously stated, set out the Inspector’s views on the Local Plan Core Strategy as a result of the Examination in Public process to date. It is correct that these documents do not include the detailed reasons behind the Inspector’s interim findings. At the July 2014 public hearings, the Inspector acknowledged that this is not an ideal circumstance, but that he considered it appropriate to issue the documents to assist with the Examination process overall.

The Inspector has yet to issue his Final Report, which the Council understands will set out the detailed reasons behind his final conclusions on the soundness of the Plan. The Inspector has emphasised that he can only reach these final conclusions after considering the representations received in response to the consultation on the proposed modifications, which is ongoing until 14 November 2014 (see the August 2014 Interim Findings, page 3).

The Council expects that the Inspector will issue this Final Report in the months following the closure of the current consultation period, although we cannot currently confirm a detailed timescale for this.

Please note that the Inspector is appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to undertake an Examination in Public of the Knowsley Local Plan Core Strategy. The Council has no control over how the Inspector conducts the Examination.

If you need further information please see contact details below.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information
Knowsley MBC
Archway Road
Huyton
Knowsley
Merseyside
L36 9UX

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Woods

Thank you for your email received on 20 October 2014 requesting information about Leafleting campaign and publication dates.

I have recorded your request for information under reference F2014.10.691.

This has been passed to the relevant service and you will receive a response by 18 November 2014.

In line with guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the council may make a charge for the provision of information – for example in order to cover the costs of postage (in line with the relevant postal charges) or charges for printing and copying (which will reflect photocopying charges levied by the council’s public libraries).

You will be informed if a fee is to be applied before information is to be provided.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information
Knowsley MBC
Archway Road
Huyton
Knowsley
Merseyside
L36 9UX

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Woods,

Freedom of Information request F2014-10-691

We have looked into your request for information about leafleting campaign
and publication dates, and our response is shown below.

Response from Knowsley Council – 23 October 2014

·       You've stated that, "a leafleting campaign aimed at reaching all
households in Knowsley"

·       Can you please supply me with a copy of this leaflet?

·       Can you provide me with the dates of publication of information
related to this matter in the Knowsley News or supply with a copy of the
publications.

Previous consultation

The Council has undertaken two leafleting campaigns relating to the Local
Plan Core Strategy. These were:

-        Issues and Options stage leaflet – November 2009; and

-        Preferred Options stage leaflet – June 2011

For both of these campaigns, the Council sought to circulate a copy of the
leaflet to each home in Knowsley. Both of these leaflets are available on
the Council’s [1]website (documents CS05 and CS07).

The following Knowsley News editions contained articles relating to the
Local Plan Core Strategy:

-        March 2009 (page 2)

-        June 2009 (page 7)

-        December 2009 (page 4)

-        March 2010 (page 8 and back page)

-        June 2010 (page 18)

-        September 2010 (page 10)

-        December 2010 (page 18)

-        June 2011 (page 10)

-        September 2011 (page 12)

-        March 2012 (page 12)

-        September 2012 (page 10)

-        December 2012 (page 4)

-        June 2014 (page 7)

-        September 2014 (page 6)

All previous copies of the Knowsley News are available on the Council’s
[2]website.

A detailed description of the consultation activities and responses
received in the lead up to submission of the Plan are in the various
Reports and Statements of Consultation, also available on the Council’s
[3]website.

It should be noted that relevant information relating to this matter
(including the leaflets and Reports of Consultation) is already within the
public domain and is available to access on the Council’s website.  In
addition, information regarding the leafleting campaigns, including links
to the leaflets, was provided in our response to your previous FOI
request, reference F2014.07.459.

If you need further information please see contact details below.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information

Knowsley MBC

Archway Road

Huyton

Knowsley

Merseyside

L36 9UX

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