Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

Members were asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal interests, not included on the Register of Interests, or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they may have in respect of business on the agenda. No additional interests were declared.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Tuesday 22 April 2014.  Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the remit of the committee.

To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

“Please note this meeting will be filmed and webcast and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission.  This broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting.  Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (whose contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/download/3130/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings

It was reported that there had been two registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme, and that three Members of Council had requested to speak on items, details of which are set out below:

General Comments

Gwen Swinburn spoke to raise concerns regarding the legal and democratic processes in place for urgent items, either key or non-key, brought forward for discussion at meetings and their classifications. She highlighted the publication of late reports and the need for oversight of this area of council business.

City of York Local Plan Further Sites Consultation

Jennifer Hubbard, spoke to stress the importance to residents of the Local Plan whilst acknowledging that the Local Plan Working Group had taken on board points raised at their meeting held on 17 April 2014. Earlier, she had highlighted a number of inconsistencies, factual errors and ambiguities in the report and whilst not criticising the document she confirmed the need to ensure that the plan was as correct as possible prior to inspection.

Councillor Warters, spoke of his concerns regarding consultation in relation to the Local Plan and the need to reflect consultation responses. He referred to the cities capacity for growth and to the long term harm that could result for residents if this was exceeded.

Councillor Steward, spoke to reiterate the views of the Liberal Democrat Conservative Group, in particular that although not against development the scale of the proposals were not felt appropriate for the city or its affect on green belt land. He raised concerns regarding the proposed public consultation document and lack of detail and to the recently circulated traveller’s sites addendum. He asked for distribution of leaflets in areas where a large site was likely to have a major impact on residents.

Improving City Centre Competitiveness

Councillor D’Agorne, spoke to welcome the encouragement being given to city centre businesses. He raised particular concerns however at the proposed funding of the measures from the contribution to mitigation measures in the s106 for Monks Cross South. With scare resources and no supporting evidence he suggested the use of the contribution for public transport around the city.

Councillor Steward also spoke to question the urgency of the city centre competitiveness decision and highlighted the need for cross party discussions in the interests of the city centre.

[As amended by Cabinet at their meeting on 1 July 2014]

This report informs Members of on going work relating to potential Local Plan allocations and seeks permission to undertake public consultation on potential new sites and boundary changes on some of the sites originally identified. Details of these sites and potential changes are included in the proposed consultation document – City of York Local Plan – Further Sites Consultation (attached as Annex A to this report).

Resolved:  That, Cabinet agree the recommendations of the Local Plan Working Group from their meeting held on 17 April 2014, circulated at the meeting, namely to:

(i)           Approve the City of York Local Plan – Further Sites Consultation attached at Annex A, along with supporting information for public consultation, subject to the inclusion of:

·          the addendum to the report to address the shortfall of sites for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople.

·          the technical amendments agreed at the LPWG meeting

·          details of the covenant in relation to the Old Vinery site, Cinder Lane (Site 733) and

·          amendment to technical appendix 5 (Strategic Sites) to reflect the need to ensure appropriate access to the Whinthorpe site (ST15).

(ii)          Delegate to the Director of City and Environmental Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, the making of any incidental changes to the draft document that are necessary as a result of the recommendations of Cabinet.

 (iii)    Delegate to the Director of City and Environmental Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, the approval of a consultation strategy and associated documents.

(iv)    Delegate to the Director of City and Environmental Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member,  the approval of supporting information and documentation to be published during public consultation.

Reason:     (i)      So that a National Planning Policy Framework compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(ii)          So that changes recommended as a result of discussions at this meeting can be made.

(iii)     To ensure that the proposed methods of consultation are satisfactory to Members.

(iv)     To ensure that the proposed methods of consultation are satisfactory to Members.

Members considered a report which informed Members of on going work relating to potential Local Plan allocations and sought permission to undertake public consultation on potential new sites and boundary changes on some of the sites originally identified. The information had been included in the proposed consultation document, City of York Local Plan Further Sites Consultation, at Annex A to the report.

Consideration was also given to the following additional information, circulated prior to the meeting and republished with the Cabinet online agenda for the meeting:

·        Draft minutes of the Local Plan Working Group, meeting held on 17 April 2014

·        Addendum report – detailing the outcome of further technical work, since the preferred options consultation, to address the shortfall of sites for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers.

The Cabinet Members presented the report referring to the tight timescales necessary to ensure the city had a Local Plan to both protect and meet the cities future development needs. It was confirmed that the proposals had been discussed in some detail at the Local Plan Working Group meeting on 17 April. At that time a number of technical amendments had been raised and speakers had raised points relating to the Old Vinery site. Subsequent to that, an amended site boundary and access had been put forward for site ST15 at Whinthorpe.

It was noted that there would be a 6 week consultation period, to commence as soon as possible after the meeting, which would give residents further opportunity to view the plans and documents and comment on the proposals.

Other Cabinet Members reiterated the importance of a Local Plan for the city and expressing their full support for the proposed consultation measures. It was confirmed that all residents’ comments would be considered in detail however the authority had a moral and legal obligation to allocate land for future development over the next 15 year period. Thanks were also expressed to Officers for preparation of the document with the tight timescales involved.

Following further discussion it was

Resolved:  That, Cabinet agree the recommendations of the Local Plan Working Group from their meeting held on 17 April 2014, circulated at the meeting, namely to:

(i)           Approve the City of York Local Plan – Further Sites Consultation attached at Annex A, along with supporting information for public consultation, subject to the inclusion of:

·          the addendum to the report to address the shortfall of sites for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople.

·          the technical amendments agreed at the LPWG meeting

·          details of the covenant in relation to the Old Vinery site, Cinder Lane (Site 733) and

·          amendment to technical appendix 5 (Strategic Sites) to reflect the need to ensure appropriate access to the Whinthorpe site (ST15).

(ii)          Delegate to the Director of City and Environmental Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, the making of any incidental changes to the draft document that are necessary as a result of the recommendations of Cabinet.

 (iii)    Delegate to the Director of City and Environmental Services, in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 127.

This report asks Cabinet to confirm City of York Council support for the response for York Central to be considered as a location for the college hub, and delegate authority for the finalisation and submission of a response to officers, working with Network Rail as the landowners.

This is an urgent item due to the deadline for submission of 30 April 2014.

Resolved:  That Cabinet support the response for York Central to be considered as a location for the hub of the new High Speed Rail college, and delegate authority for the finalisation and submission of a response to officers, working with Network Rail as the landowners.

Reason:     It supports the potential creation of jobs and growth of one of the city’s key economic sectors.

Consideration was given to a report which asked Council to support a consultation response to the Government for York Central to be considered as the location for a Rail College hub. The College would be focussed on designing and delivering the high level skills required for high speed rail and other major engineering projects in the future.

This item had been added as an urgent item to the Cabinet agenda in view of the deadline for submission of response by 30 April 2014.

It was noted that although competition from other cities would be strong, the case for locating the college in York was equally as strong as it was already the site of a national hub for employment and research in the rail industry.

Officers confirmed the importance of the bid for the city as it was envisaged that the college would provide a base for all future major investment training. The knock on effects on both employers and the supply chain were highlighted together with the importance of the training facilities for the local employment market. Reference was also made to the support of both rail and city centre businesses to the bid.

The Leader referred to extensive work undertaken with partners around the bid and to public support received which would also be a consideration when assessing the bids.

Resolved:  That Cabinet support the response for York Central to be considered as a location for the hub of the new High Speed Rail college, and delegate authority for the finalisation and submission of a response to officers, working with Network Rail as the landowners.

Reason:     It supports the potential creation of jobs and growth of one of the city’s key economic sectors.

This report seeks Cabinet’s approval to implement changes to parking charges, as a pilot, on a temporary basis, for the financial year 2014/15, to provide an incentive to residents and visitorsto encourage daytime use of the city centre car parks.

This report has been brought forward for urgent consideration to enable the changes to be brought in at an early date to complement the opening of the Vangarde Retail Park at Monks Cross. 

Resolved:   That Cabinet agree:

(i)           As a pilot, to change parking charges in Council-controlled car parks to provide free car parking between 8am and 11am from Thursday to Saturday, to start as soon as the machines can be altered, and up to 31^st March 2015;

(ii)          To the initial funding for the proposed trial coming from the contribution towards mitigation measures in the s106 for Monks Cross South and potentially other city centre access initiatives, should there be enough spare capacity in the funding pot;

(iii)        That should the impact on the Council’s revenue account be significantly greater than the estimate, members reserve the right to review and make changes to the discount mid-year. 

Reason:     To support the attraction of an increased number of visitors and residents to the city centre, which in turn will provide a platform for generating private sector contributions and other sources of funding to support further such initiatives.  

Cabinet considered a report which sought agreement to implement changes to parking charges, on a temporary basis, during the 2014/15 financial year to provide an incentive to residents and visitor to encourage daytime use of the city centre car parks. The pilot scheme would provide free parking for residents and visitors in selected Council controlled car parks from 8am to 11am Thursdays to Saturdays.

This item had been added as an urgent item to the Cabinet agenda to enable the changes to be brought in at an early date to complement the opening of the Vangarde Retail Park at Monks Cross.

The Cabinet Members confirmed discussions between City Team York (CTY) and local businesses on a range of potential measures to strengthen city centre resilience and increase footfall in the city. In an attempt to address some of these issues public realm improvements were proposed and development of a Business Improvement District (BID) was being explored.

It was noted that the cost of the trial, in terms of loss of income for parking revenue, would be met through mitigation measures in the Section 106 agreement associated with the Monks Cross South development. There was however a commitment from CTY to generate this revenue from the private sector, initially through the sale of a set of parking permits from the Council’s car parks and development of a BID.

Cabinet Members reiterated that the proposals were only a pilot and that monitoring would be undertaken on the impact of the discount on parking revenue and behaviour. It was noted that market traders welcomed the changes, which would coincide with the newly refurbished market, the changes would they hoped bring residents into the city centre earlier in the day.

Following further discussion it was

Resolved:   That Cabinet agree:

(i)           As a pilot, to change parking charges in Council-controlled car parks to provide free car parking between 8am and 11am from Thursday to Saturday, to start as soon as the machines can be altered, and up to 31^st March 2015;

(ii)          To the initial funding for the proposed trial coming from the contribution towards mitigation measures in the s106 for Monks Cross South and potentially other city centre access initiatives, should there be enough spare capacity in the funding pot;

(iii)        That should the impact on the Council’s revenue account be significantly greater than the estimate, members reserve the right to review and make changes to the discount mid-year.  ^1.

Reason:     To support the attraction of an increased number of visitors and residents to the city centre, which in turn will provide a platform for generating private sector contributions and other sources of funding to support further such initiatives.