Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registerable interests they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registerable interests they might have in respect of business on the agenda, if they had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Plan Working Group held on 1 December 2022.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2022 be approved, and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.

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Webcasting of Public Meetings

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During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (http://www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there had been five registrations to speak at the meeting under the council’s Public Participation Scheme.

All five speakers spoke on Agenda Item 4, City of York Local Plan.

Geoff Beacon highlighted the climate and housing implications within the Local Plan. He felt that the rise in house prices would benefit current house owners and developers, leaving renters, the least affluent or the young exiled. He explained why he felt York’s greenhouse gas emissions were not in line with City of York Council’s declaration of a climate emergency, and he noted that he had been refused to speak at the Local Plan examination.

The Chair confirmed he was unable to discuss any legal disputes and during discussion of agenda item 4, the Corporate Director of Place suggested Mr Beacon raised his concerns to the Planning Inspectorate.

Cllr Myers spoke on Annex 3, specifically PMM49 the amendment to remove the Green Belt boundary at St Peters School. He questioned the robustness of the process and noted that the amendment removed crucial open space in an area that had a shortfall. He explained that the proposed area was in flood defence zone level 3, with Burdyke Pump operating at capacity. He proposed the removal of this modification to protect the Green Belt.

Abbie North, York Traveller Trust Trustee, spoke on Gypsy and Traveller provision. She highlighted the desperate need for private family sites and suggested that the S106 agreement proposed would be legally unenforceable. She expressed the need for a sustainable solution to address the accommodation crisis that faced Gypsy and Travellers in the city and that expanding the Osbaldwick site was not the answer. She offered to collaborate with the council to develop an acceptable criteria-based policy for traveller sites.

Chris Bailey spoke on the proposals contained within paragraphs 28 to 31 of the report, particularly in respect of Policy D3: Cultural Wellbeing. He confirmed he represented York on the Creative Cities Network of UNESCO and he expressed his concerns that the Local Plan did not include specific separate guidance on cultural provision and wellbeing, to fully integrate culture and creativity into local development, strategies and plans.

Andrew Morrison, Chief Executive of York Civic Trust, and a member of the Culture Forum noted that the Trust and Forum both supported the Local Plan, and the adoption timetable set out in the report.  He expressed his concerns with the removal of the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for cultural provision and he noted that an SPD for local heritage was not included within paragraph 31 of the report. He felt York required a specific SPD for culture and local heritage to provide the definition and detail to support Policy D3:Cultural Wellbeing.

This report details the latest position in the Local Plan examination process. It asks Members to recommend to Executive that the proposed modifications and associated evidence base is agreed and to move towards the Local Plan’s adoption. It also asks Members to recommend that the series of thematic Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs), an Article 4 Direction and further evidence gathering in relation to short term holiday lets and houses in multiple occupation (HMO) is agreed to support the implementation of the Local Plan.

Members considered a report that detailed the latest position in the Local Plan examination process. The report asked the Committee to recommend to Executive that the proposed modifications and associated evidence base be agreed, to move towards the Local Plan’s adoption. It also asked Members to recommend that the series of thematic Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs), an Article 4 Direction and further evidence gathering in relation to short term holiday lets and houses in multiple occupation (HMO) be agreed to support the implementation of the Local Plan.

[5:58 pm Cllr Doughty joined the meeting]

The Corporate Director of Place presented the report, noting that:

·        On 25 May 2018 the authority submitted the Publication Draft Local Plan for independent examination.

·        Eleven weeks of public inquiry had recently taken place, and no significant concerns had been raised at this stage from the Inspectors, but a number of matters were identified as required modifications.

·        A consultation on the proposed Main Modifications to the Draft Plan was proposed to take place from early February 2023 for a period of six weeks. The results would be collated and the associated evidence base submitted to the Inspectors for them to draft their report. In the event of no material changes and following the receipt of the Inspector’s report to agree to the submission of the Local Plan, it was anticipated that the Plan would be taken to Full Council for adoption later in the year.

In response to the speakers comments the Corporate Director confirmed that:

·        The climate change polices had been updated to reflect the national position.

·        The Local Plan had been guided by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and it could not exceed what was legislatively required, however, the council would include some additional aspirational requirements for developments.

·        The Inspectors had considered every Green Belt boundary in the city, and in respect of St Peters School, the Inspectors undertook a site visit and decided that the river boundary provided a much more sustainable and long-term Green Belt boundary. The visit also prompted Officers to reconsider the original Green Belt boundary lines submitted in May 2018, which would effectively mean more space was provided around schools.

·        The policies within the Local Plan had the material weight and the SPD’s provided the clarification and explanatory text.

·        It had been considered that the originally agreed list of SPD’s did not support the delivery of the Plan or represent the most effective use of resource. The revised approach consolidated some of the individual topic SPD’s to successfully deliver them as themes running through all the SPD’s.

·        The Local Plan provided private Gypsy and Traveller sites through strategic sites and the vast majority of the 44 pitches would be provided by the private sector and dispersed across the city.

·        Further work had been undertaken in response to the Inspectors request for the location and delivery trajectory of the 10 Gypsy and Traveller pitches on council owned sites. The additional capital invested in the site at Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.