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City Of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Local Plan Working Group |
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Date |
6 March 2023 |
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Present |
Councillors Ayre (Chair), Cuthbertson, Fisher, Doughty, Hollyer, Orrell, Pearson (from 4:07 pm), Perrett, Smalley, Barnes, Pavlovic, Looker (substitute for Cllr Lomas) and Melly (substitute for Cllr K Taylor) |
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Apologies
Officers in Attendance |
Councillors D'Agorne, Lomas, K Taylor, Warters, Widdowson and Galvin
Neil Ferris, Corporate Director of Place Alison Stockdale, Principal Strategic Planning Policy Officer John Roberts, Strategic Planning Policy Officer |
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14. Declarations of Interest (4:03 pm)
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.
Cllr Fisher declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, Strensall with Towthorpe Neighbourhood Plan – Examiner’s Report & Decision Statement in that he was a member of the Strensall with Towthorpe Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.
Cllr Doughty and Cllr Barnes also declared a personal interest in agenda item 4, in that they both resided in Strensall.
No other interests were declared.
15. Minutes (4:03 pm)
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2023 be approved, and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.
In answer to a question raised regarding the inclusion of a specific Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to support Policy D3: Cultural Wellbeing, the Corporate Director of Place confirmed that this was considered by Executive and they had agreed not to include a separate Cultural Wellbeing SPD at this time. The Corporate Director also noted that the new administration would have the opportunity to finalise which SPDs to introduce, and in what order.
16. Public Participation (4:07 pm)
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the council’s Public Participation Scheme.
17. Strensall with Towthorpe Neighbourhood Plan - Examiner's Report & Decision Statement (4:07pm)
Members considered the Strensall with Towthorpe Neighbourhood Plan Examiner’s Report, attached at Annex A to the report and the Decision Statement, which included the council’s proposed response to the Examiner’s recommended modifications, attached at Annex B to the report. The report asked the Local Plan Working Group (LPWG) to recommend to Executive that it agreed the Examiner’s recommendations to enable the Neighbourhood Plan to proceed to referendum.
The Corporate Director of Place and the Strategic Planning Policy Officer provided an overview noting that Rosemary Kidd Dip TP had been appointed to undertake the Independent Examination of the Neighbourhood Plan. The Examiner’s Report assessed the polices in the Neighbourhood Plan, and a series of recommended modifications were made. It was noted that the Queen Elizabeth Barracks site was particularly complex in terms of its reference in the Neighbourhood Plan, and the main recommendations of concerns were highlighted.
Members were informed that subject to Executive endorsing the recommendations in the report, the referendum would be held on Thursday 4 May 2023, alongside the local elections.
Members welcomed the Neighbourhood Plan and they noted the importance to include contingency plans and policies for the Queen Elizabeth Barracks site.
All those that had been involved in developing the Neighbourhood Plan were commended, with particular acknowledgments given to the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, particularly the Chair, Keith Marquis, Kathryn Jukes and Mike Dando from Directions Planning Consultancy Ltd, and the Forward Planning team at City of York Council.
Sincere acknowledgements were also made to Mr Philip Thorpe and Parish Councillor John Chapman who had also made valuable contributions to drafting the Neighbourhood Plan but had sadly passed away before it was completed. A request was made to include them in the dedications at the start of the Plan, and officers agreed to investigate this further. It was reported, following the meeting, that they had been included in the dedications in the latest referendum draft of the Plan, which had recently been updated and received from the planning agents on behalf of the Parish Council.
Members acknowledged the immense amount of work that’s required to develop a Neighbourhood Plan and they recognised that some smaller communities, particularly those that did not have the infrastructure or resources available, may require additional support to produce a Neighbourhood Plan.
Resolved:
(i) That the report be recommended to Executive.
Reason: In order that Executive can consider the observations and recommendations of the LPWG in their decision making.
(ii) That Executive be recommended to:
· Agree the Examiner’s modifications set out at Annex B (Decision Statement) of the report to the Strensall with Towthorpe Neighbourhood Plan, and that subject to those modifications the Neighbourhood Plan meets the Basic Conditions and other legislative requirements.
Reason: To allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with neighbourhood planning legislation.
· Agree that the Strensall with Towthorpe Neighbourhood Plan, as amended, proceeds to a local referendum based on the neighbourhood area outlined in the Examiners Report (Annex A of the report).
Reason: To allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with neighbourhood planning legislation.
· Approve the Decision Statement, attached at Annex B of the report, to be published on the City of York Council’s website.
Reason: To allow the Neighbourhood Plan to progress in line with neighbourhood planning legislation.
Cllr N Ayre, Chair
[The meeting started at 4.03 pm and finished at 4.19 pm].