Statement of Community Involvement (SCI)

Planning is the only public service with a legal obligation to consult people. The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is intended to be the cornerstone of the consultation and participation process. All Local Planning Authorities are required to produce an SCI. A key requirement is to involve, at an early stage, all those with an interest in the planning system to achieve local ownership and legitimacy for the plans that will shape the future development of our area.

The SCI sets out how the Local Planning Authority will enable:

  1. people to contribute to the process of preparing local development documents in their area; and
  2. consultation on all planning applications.

South Bedfordshire District Council (SBDC) and Luton Borough Council (LBC) are both Local Planning Authorities, however, they are now engaging in joint working. The Luton and South Bedfordshire Joint Committee has been formed to enable this to go ahead and plan for the Luton/Dunstable/Houghton Regis and Leighton Linslade Growth Area (identified in the Milton Keynes South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy (MKSM SRS)).

On 13th March 2006 the Luton and South Bedfordshire Joint Committee agreed that both councils were to stop production of their stand alone SCIs, and concentrate resources on a Joint SCI for the Growth Area. As a result of this, following pre-submission consultation (regulation 25*) the stand alone SCIs have been merged to form the Joint Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).

The adopted Joint SCI and related documents are available to download here.

Please click on the following weblink to access the Joint SCI:

Statement of Community Involvement - December 2007 (PDF 652KB)

Inspector's Binding Report - August 2007 (PDF 191KB)

If you would like any further information on the Joint Statement of Community Involvement, please find our contact details below. 

Development Plans,
South Beds District Council,
FREEPOST LOL414,
Dunstable LU6 1BR.

email: localplans@southbeds.gov.uk

Regional Plans Team
Department of Environment and Regeneration
Luton Borough Council,
Town Hall,
FREEPOST ANG 5839
Luton LU1 2ZB

email: structureplan@luton.gov.uk