Issue - items at meetings - Prioritisation of Supplementary Planning Documents

This report seeks to update on the existing SPDs agreed for production, recommend the prioritisation for production of further SPDs with an understanding of their likely contents, resources and timescales. It also seeks approval to proceed with an altered list of SPDs and advises on where additional guidance would be beneficial in preference to an SPD.

The report also considers the e-petition received in March 2024 regarding reviewing the thresholds set out in the Controlling the Concentration of Houses in Multiple Occupation SPD (Draft, 2014).

Resolved:

i. Noted progress of the ongoing production of the

Climate Change SPD;

ii. Agreed the revised scope for the Housing SPD and Green Infrastructure SPD, as set out in Annex C, and continue to prioritise their production;

iii. Agreed the scope for a ‘Planning for Heath’ SPD, as set out in Annex C, and agree its inclusion in the next phase of SPD prioritisation;

iv. Noted the likely scope for a Transport SPD, as set out in Annex C, to support the implementation of the Local Transport Strategy. Further detail to be delegated to the Director for Transport, Environment and Planning in consultation with the Executive Member for Transport and Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Neighbourhoods;

v. Agreed that a Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling

Showpeople SPD be included in the next phase of prioritisation of SPDs. The scope of the SPD to be delegated to the Director for City Development on consultation with the Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Neighbourhoods;

vi. That SPDs for Extensions & Alterations of Buildings, Environmental Protection, Culture and Heritage & City Walls be agreed as lower priority for SPD production, due to limited internal capacity to progress these at this time;

vii. That each draft SPD be reported to Executive for agreement to proceed to statutory public consultation and subsequently, adoption.

Reason: To progress a suite of SPDs to support the policies set

out in the new City of York Local Plan to ensure policy is clear and applied consistently.

viii. Noted the response to the e-petition on HMO thresholds and agreed the continued monitoring of the policy’s implementation for consideration as part of future policy review;

ix. Agreed the continued gathering of evidence to support a potential Article 4 direction to remove permitted development rights allowing changes of use of a building in commercial, business and service use (use class E) to residential (use class C3);

x. Agreed the continued gathering of evidence ahead of Government introducing changes relating to short-term holiday lets, which could support a potential Article 4 direction to restrict permitted development rights and incorporate this into the Housing SPD, if timescales allow.

Reason: to support implementation of the Local Plan and ensure

evidence is available to inform a local policy response as appropriate.

The Interim Director of City Development introduced the report on supplementary planning documents (SPD) seeking agreement to the scope and prioritisation of SPD’s to sit alongside the Local Plan. It was confirmed that at the Council’s Local Plan working Group had recommended to amend Recommendation 10 to include consideration of short term housing lets in the Housing SPD if timescales allow and guidance on houseboats, to approach the Combined Authority to assist in funding the Council’s SPD creation, as well as, acknowledge the Social Model of Disability in every SPD and ensure the SPD guidance follows this model and make sure that accessibility is more visible.

The Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Communities thanked officers for their work on both the Local Plan and the creation of these SPD’s. He acknowledged the importance of the SPD’s while noting that there role was to support policy within the Local Plan itself. He noted that the Executive were happy to accept the recommendations around short term lets but noted that the Council’s was also awaiting a potential change in the law regarding short term lets from Government.