A decision to progress with a series of Planning Guidance Notes was taken by Executive in April 2026[1].
Government has announced that any Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) in production must be adopted by 30 June 2026. The Council is also commencing production of a new Local Plan with a view to passing Gateway 1 (the start of the 30 month Local Plan production timeline) by the end of October 2026.
To facilitate development of a new Local Plan, Executive has agreed that development will pivot from production of SPDs to planning guidance notes. While planning guidance notes do not carry the same weight as SPDs, they do not have to follow the same statutory process and can therefore be produced more quickly to support implementation of policies within the current Local Plan.
The consultation strategy is delegated to the Director of City Development for approval. Executive also approved for the Combined Executive Member Decision Session to consider draft non-statutory guidance for approval.
This document has been produced to provide details of the intended consultation for each of the proposed planning guidance notes. This includes but is not limited to: Affordable housing, hot food takeaways, heathy places, masterplanning, self build and houses in multiple occupation.
This consultation strategy accords with the requirements set out in the approved Statement of Community Involvement (2026).
As there is no statutory process for producing planning guidance, we intend to consult internally with the most appropriate technical officers for each piece of planning guidance. Where it is considered beneficial, we may undertake some limited external consultation with relevant stakeholders.
Internal Consultation
· The guidance has been developed in collaboration with colleagues from the Housing and Public Health teams.
· As there is no statutory process for consultation on planning guidance, we intend to consult internally as appropriate. As the guidance is intended to help inform the determination of planning applications, Development Management colleagues will be consulted on all of the proposed guidance.
· All relevant officers will be sent details of the consultation, and the draft guidance notes, at the start of the consultation period.
Specific Consultees
· To ensure the consultation is targeted appropriately it is intended to engage with the Registered Providers on the Affordable Housing and Specialist Housing guidance with a roundtable event.
· To ensure a proportionate response, and as there is no statutory guidance, to consultation on the planning guidance notes it is not intended to consult the wider public.
· The Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Communities will be briefed regarding the non-statutory guidance to be produced and its content.
As there is no statutory process for the production of planning guidance, there will be no set consultation period for the documents. However it is intended that consultation will be for a minimum of two weeks.
The planning guidance notes support the implementation of policy in the adopted Local Plan, which has itself been subject to lengthy public consultation. Where officers have assessed that the scope of a draft guidance note may extend beyond national guidance, it is intended that consultation will take place with targeted external consultees. As a result of the non-statutory, and limited, nature of the consultations, drafts of the planning guidance notes will be emailed to stakeholders for comment. As wider public consultation is not proposed, paper copies of documents will not be provided unless specifically requested by consultees.
Details on how to respond will be included within the consultation email. Where stakeholders have not been directly informed of the consultation but have submitted comments, these will be accepted as part of the consultation process.
The applicable privacy notice relevant to non-statutory guidance are:
· https://www.york.gov.uk/privacy/StrategicPlanningPolicy
· https://www.york.gov.uk/privacy/PlanningAndDevelopmentServices
It is not intended that personal details will be released as part of the consultation process.
Where modifications to the guidance notes are recommended through consultation, these will be considered and the guidance updated, if necessary.
The preparation and outcomes of consultation will be reported to the Combined Executive Member Decision Session. This will include a summary of how we undertook the consultation, the responses received and/or any further actions undertaken.
The guidance notes will be approved by the Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Communities at the Combined Executive Member Decision Session. Following approval:
· guidance will be released on the Council’s website under ‘Planning Guidance’;
· internally circulated for information; and
· referenced on the adopted Local Plan webpage.