Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, 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 invited to declare at this point in the meeting any

personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, and

any prejudicial or discloseable pecuniary interests, which they

might have in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Plan Working Group held on 16 March 2021.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2021 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chair at a future date.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak, regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the remit of the Working Group, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Friday 16 April 2021.

Filming or Recording Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be filmed and webcast, or recorded, including 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 e.g. 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/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_20160809.pdf

It was reported that there had been no registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The purpose of this report is to ask Members to recommend to Executive that approval be given for the continuation of temporary amendments made to the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) in October 2020.

Members considered a report that asked them to recommend to Executive that approval be given for the continuation of temporary amendments made to the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), as shown in Annex A of the report.

The Assistant Director of Planning & Public Protection, the Development Officer, the Corporate Director of Place, the Head of Development Services and the Development Manager were all in attendance to provide an update and answer any questions. 

The Development Officer noted that a report was taken to Executive in October 2020 where Members agreed to the temporary revisions to the Council’s adopted SCI, to reflect the specific requirements arising from national guidance and procedures on dealing with coronavirus implications. It was requested that a follow up report be brought to Members following a six month period to consider whether a further period of implementation was required.

Members noted that some of the methods could still not be implemented under the ongoing restrictions and therefore officers were proposing the continuation of the temporary suspension of some measures, where necessary, for the duration of the pandemic in order to comply with the issued guidance. Officers confirmed these changes were only temporary, until it was safe to reinstate all consultation methods, and it was also recommended that the decision on when to lift these temporary suspensions, be subject to a delegated decision to the Corporate Director of Place in consultation with the Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning.

Officers were thanked for their update and discussions took place regarding the recommendations noted in the report.  Cllr Crawshaw then moved and Cllr Fisher seconded that the recommendations required further clarity to ensure further temporary revisions to the SCI were for a maximum of six months and that delegated authority referred only to the reinstatement of the pre-existing SCI. Following debate, a vote was taken and it was unanimously

Resolved: That Executive be recommended to:

i)             Approve, for a maximum six month period, the temporary revisions to the Council’s adopted SCI (as shown in Annex A of the report) to reflect the specific requirements arising from national guidance and procedures on dealing with coronavirus implications.

ii)            Agree to delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Place in conjunction with the Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning to revert back to the pre-pandemic SCI, when the current health pandemic allowed for suspended consultation methods to be lifted.

Reason: To ensure that consultation and engagement in the planning process remained effective at a time when restrictions had been placed on face to face social interactions to help combat the spread of coronavirus.

The purpose of this report is to ask Members to recommend that Executive approve the updated Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) as evidence base to support decision-making and the emerging Local Plan policy and agree to submit the SFRA for consideration as part of the ongoing Local Plan Examination and for consultation purpose.

Members considered a report that asked them to recommend to Executive the approval of the updated Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) as evidence base to support decision-making and the emerging Local Plan policy and agree to submit the SFRA for consideration as part of the ongoing Local Plan Examination and for consultation purposes.

The Assistant Director of Planning & Public Protection, the Interim Forward Planning Manager, the Flood Risk Manager

and the Corporate Director of Place were all in attendance to provide an update and answer any questions.

The Forward Planning Manager confirmed that the updated SFRA, as shown in Annex 1 to the report, included a flood mapping update from the Environment Agency. The updated document, following Members decision, would be submitted to the Local Plan Inspectors for consideration and would proactively refresh the Local Plan evidence base in advance of the examination hearing sessions on detailed policies.

The Flood Risk Manager highlighted the background to the report, including the technical evidence and confirmed that the document updated the policy and procedures required to effectively manage flood risk and drainage in planning applications. 

In answer to questions raised, it was confirmed that the new upstream storage area on the River Foss could be included in the SFRA and the surface water hotspots listed in the SFRA were not conclusive and any new sites would be reviewed and investigated after any flooding.

The Chair thanked officers for their update and following discussion, a vote was taken and it was unanimously

Resolved: That Executive be recommended to:

i)        Accept the updated SFRA as evidence base to support decision-making and the emerging Local Plan policy.

ii)       Agree to submit the SFRA for consideration as part of the ongoing Local Plan Examination and for consultation purpose.

Reason: To ensure there was up-to-date evidence base to support flood risk policy and decision-making in relation to flood risk.