Agenda and draft minutes

Drop-in to see Walmgate Improvement Proposals and chat with Ward Councillors, officers and partners about ambitions for the area.

The meeting was chaired by Councillor Tony Clarke who welcomed everyone and set out the housekeeping rules and reminded residents that the meeting was non-political.

Apologies

Few residents have emailed their apologies to us prior to the meeting.

David Chatfield, acting Clerk of the Guildhall Planning Panel (GPP) spoke about how he joined the GPP at a Ward Committee meeting few years ago. He was new to York at the time and found the opportunity interesting. The existing GPP members are: Win Derbyshire (Clerk), David Chatfield, Mary Pringle, June Tranmer, Sarah Daniel, Jenny Howell, Charlette Shiel-Small, Ann Petherick and Sarah Friar. David stated that new members are always welcome and that a good opportunity to experience work of the GPP would be by attending one of their meetings. The GPP meets via video conferencing app for couple hours every three weeks. Every six months members get together in person.  No qualifications in planning are required to become a member of the GPP.  There are two membership criteria: being a resident of, or working in the Guildhall ward. The GPP can influence the planning process and heritage of Guildhall ward by putting in interested residents’ views. Over the years the GPP has influenced planning decisions by looking at things from residents’ perspectives. As a body recognised by the City of York Council (CYC) more weight is applied to their comments than those from individuals directly. The GPP has often expressed views on shop fronts, shop signage, air conditioner locations (noise to residents), all of which are relevant to residents. The GPP comments on the details of a particular planning application can make so much difference to local people, whether it be the handling of trees, the way the building addresses a street, the screening of bins, location of bike stores and many other details.

The GPP reviews approximately 30 planning applications a month which amounts to 13% of City of York’s planning applications.

Issues identified by the GPP are:

·       Enforcement of Planning Process violations – credibility of the planning system.

·       Short Term Holiday Lets (STHL)– is the current process controlling the number of short term lets effective? Are there density issues?

·       Student housing – is there an independent report demonstrating the need for further investment in student housing and are the provisions for convertibility to residential use practical.

·       Tree policies – encourage replacement (help to meet CYC tree target).

·       Change of categories - should there be a time limit and restrictions on density of HMOs etc.?

·       Climate Change Adaptation – should the planning application process be used to encourage adaptation for climate change, such as tree replacement or offsets, enforceable energy standards etc. ?

The GPP would welcome an opportunity to have a training/discussion session with the CYC Planning Department.

The GPP email address guildhallplanningpanel@gmail.com was provided for anyone wishing to contact about joining the group, or regarding planning application issue.

Four of the existing members of the GPP present at the meeting were happy and willing to continue being involved for another year and the other five members have given a verbal assent to being involved prior to the meeting. The Ward Committee confirmed continuance of the existing GPP members over the next year. 

Short presentations and small group discussions. What can we do help the Walmgate Community Association get going again?

Regeneration proposals

Lisa Otter, Housing Development Manager outlined the proposal to build 36 affordable homes on the former Willow House site and imminent Planning Application submission. It is a very sensitive site, right next to the Walmgate Barr and along city walls. The project team are keen to improve the built environment for residents in the wider area of Walmgate and approval was obtained to undertake a small piece of work together with the community to create a series of Walmgate Improvement Proposals. These proposals are designed to highlight the needs for the area, identify projects that have local support and inform the basis of future funding bids. Over the last few years the project team have been speaking and working with hundreds of people who live, work and volunteer in the Walmgate area. From the start the team has worked with the York Archaeology to enable the use of the Willow House grounds to host a range of public heritage projects, such as the Archaeology on Prescription. Willow House and location of the new housing development is indicated in red on the attached slide show. The blue area is the South Walmgate boundary that the project team have been using to draft the improvement proposals. The following 13 possible projects have been defined:

·       Willow House development of 36 new Passivhaus homes with very low fuel bills secured by design, enhanced accessibility and an emphasis on age friendliness.

·       Improvements to the public area in front of the shops and development of a retail provision strategy that best serves the local community.

·       Hope Street improvements such as resurfacing, pocket park areas, trees and rain gardens, bike storage and benches to increase both accessibility and amenity.

·       Shared gardens enhancement such as installation of raised beds, garden storage, water butts, play features etc. encouraging more ownership of those spaces by residents. A stewardship scheme has been suggested by some residents to enable taking forward general onward maintenance and growing. 

·       Securing areas and reducing thorough routes to reduce crime and ASB and help make the shared gardens concept successful.

·       Albert Street and the garage area redesign to address the issues with crime and ASB and provide new street frontage with infill housing. This project is reasonably large and would involve multiple stakeholders, as it would be built in close proximity to neighbouring residents.

·       Infill development sites which would be developed by the CYC Housing or sold for infill housing to private developers.  Capital generated from sale of land would be reinvested in the area.

·       Retrofit strategy identifying housing stock in Walmgate in most need of investment. Flats in Walmgate often aren’t the easiest structures to retrofit because there is some complexity around leaseholders and the provision of outhouses which are often attached to the main building, however residents are keen to increase the thermal performance of their homes especially where their ground floor flats are single skin, rather than cavity wall.

·       Creation of a heritage trail to commemorate areas of historical interest throughout Walmgate.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Following the group discussions Cllr Clarke asked residents if they had any questions or comments in relation to other local issues.

Q – Is the Walmgate Community Association still active?

A – The Community Association was active a little while ago and we are keen to see that revived. Anyone interested in being involved please speak with Shiobhan and Michal.

Q – I believe that there is a new Housing Management Officer for the area. Do they organise walkabouts, or is there a way to meet with them to raise housing related issues?

A – The new Housing Management Officer for the area is Lyndsay Downes and we will pass this request on to her. The Community Association used to host walkabouts and Councillors attended them previously. This could be restarted if there are residents interested in this.

Before closing the meeting Cllr Merrett invited everyone to attend the Ward Committee meeting on 5^th January 2026, 6:30pm at Theathre@41, 41 Monkgate. The meeting agenda will include listening and responding to residents about the proposed Rougier Route bus priority zone aimed to improve journey times and road safety proposals for the south part of Huntington Road to address issues with road crossing and cyclists’ safety.

The meeting closed at 20:27