4 Who can get involved

4.1 The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) sets out the legal requirements for consultation and public engagement during the preparation of planning policy documents. It sets out specific and general consultation bodiesRegulation 2 . The regulations require us to consult these at various stages in the preparation of development plan documents and others where relevant. Specific consultation bodies may include organisations such as Natural England, the Environment Agency or Historic England. General consultation bodies are community and voluntary bodies with an interest in the borough and bodies that represent different racial, ethnic, national or religious groups, disabled persons or persons carrying on business in the borough.

4.2 Under the duty to cooperateintroduced under the Localism Act 2011 the Council is required to work with other neighbouring local planning authorities and prescribed bodies on strategic planning matters. Duty to cooperate organisations include neighbouring local authorities and other prescribed bodies set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 regulations. Appendix A provides further information on these consultees. 

4.3 The Council also seeks to involve as many people and groups as possible in developing planning policies for the authority. Anyone who has a role or an interest in shaping the future of the area, including local people, local organisations, local community groups, landowners/developers, other organisations and government departments has a contribution to make to the preparation of the Local Plan and other local development documents. 

4.4 Not everyone will need to get involved with every document and not all our methods for engaging people will be used each time. The methods chosen will relate to the type of document, scale of involvement and the stage of preparation reached. Some documents such as the Local Plan will deal with widespread aspects of planning looking at the future development of the whole Council area. This will need input from people across the borough and organisations from wider areas. 

4.5 The list below details some of the groups who may wish to contribute to the plan-making process.

• Council Members
  Councillors are in post to represent their constituents and as such have a key role to play not only in decision making but also in gathering information on the views of the communities they represent.
• Town and Parish Councils
  Parish and town councils, both in and adjacent to the authority have a key role to play in representing local interests in planning policies.
• Local people and organisations
  This includes people who live, work or visit the borough or have another interest in the borough.
• Agents, developers and landowners
  This group can provide helpful expertise and insight on market conditions and whether development can be delivered. Their knowledge and expertise will be particularly relevant to making sure we can achieve what is proposed in the Local Plan.
• Business groups
  This includes groups or organisations with business interests in the borough. We may use existing business networks / groups, to involve businesses in the preparation of local development documents including the Local Plan.
• Specialist organisations
  Specialist knowledge can be invaluable to the development of planning documents and a vital source of information. We may consult specialist organisations, for example experts in the provision of renewable energy or operators of minerals and waste facilities. This may also include specific consultation bodies such as Natural England or Health and Safety Executive.
• Duty to cooperate and prescribed bodies
  The Council is required to work with neighbouring local planning authorities and other prescribed bodies on strategic planning matters under the regulations.

Consultation database

4.7 Through our consultation database, local people or interest groups can register their interest in planning documents and consultation opportunities. Further information is available by contacting planning.policy@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk or registering online at: Cheshire West and Chester Council - Registration