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.

[5:30pm The Chair briefly lost connection and re-joined the meeting]

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 20 April 2021.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 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 to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

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Webcasting of Remote Public Meetings

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

The purpose of the report is to consider the results of the Huntington Neighbourhood Plan referendum. It asks Members to recommend to Executive to formally ‘make’ the Neighbourhood Plan and bring it into full legal force as part of the Development Plan for York. This will allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with the relevant Neighbourhood Planning legislation and Regulations.

Members considered a report that highlighted the results of the Huntington Neighbourhood Plan referendum and asked them to recommend to Executive to formally ‘make’ the Neighbourhood Plan and bring it into full legal force as part of the Development Plan for York.

[5:33pm Cllr Barnes joined the meeting]

The Development Officer and the Interim Assistant Director – Place Directorate were in attendance to present the report and answer any questions.

[5:34pm Cllr Widdowson joined the meeting, 5:35pm Cllr Widdowson lost connection and then re-joined the meeting]

It was noted that:

·        The referendum was held in the parish of Huntington on Thursday 10 June 2021, with two polling stations being open from 7am until 10pm.

·        The Declaration of Results of Poll (Annex A to the report) confirmed that 1318 residents casted a valid vote in the referendum, out of a potential 7733 on the electoral roll (17.1% turnout). 1114 (86.8%) residents voted yes and 174 (13.2%) voted no.

·        The Neighbourhood Planning Regulations required that where over 50% of the vote was in favour then the Council was legally obliged to ‘make’ the plan. The Huntington Plan did not breach, or was not incompatible with, any EU obligation or any of the Convention rights and there were no unresolved legal challenges.

·        Executive would consider the results of the referendum and be asked to formally ‘make’ the Huntington Neighbourhood Plan on 20 July 2021, this would allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with the relevant Neighbourhood Planning legislation and Regulations.

·        Once the plan was ‘made’ it would achieve its full legal status and would form part of the statutory development plan for the area and would sit alongside the Local Plan (once adopted).

Officers expressed their thanks to the Huntington Neighbourhood Plan Group and the Parish Council and Members also expressed their gratitude to those that had been involved in developing the Neighbourhood Plan.

Resolved: That Executive be recommended to:

i)             Consider the results of the referendum and formally ‘make’ the Huntington Neighbourhood Plan.

Reason: To allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations.

ii)            Approve the Decision Statement attached at Annex B to the report and to be published in accordance with Regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

Reason: To allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with neighbourhood planning legislation.