Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

At this point in the meeting, the Executive Member is asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see attached sheet for further guidance for Members].

The Executive Member was asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any disclosable pecuniary interests, or other registerable interests he might have in the respect of business on the agenda, if he had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Decision Session held on Wednesday, 13 November 2024.

Resolved: That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 13 November 2024 be approved and then signed as a correct record by the Executive Member.

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.

Please note that our registration deadlines have changed to 2 working days before the meeting. The deadline for registering at this meeting is at 5.00pm on Monday, 2 December 2024.

 To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill out an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting whose details can be found at the foot of the agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this public meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The public meeting can be viewed on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

It was reported that there had been two registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Steve Secker spoke on item 4 via zoom, representing the York Chamber of Commerce. He supported recommendations, stating that the Planning Protocol would provide more jobs and more infrastructure for the city, while also respecting its heritage.

Eamonn Keogh, also of York Chamber of Commerce, spoke on item 4; he supported the proposed Planning Protocol, adding that once approved it should be viewed and referenced as a live document.

This report provides information regarding a Draft Planning Protocol which has been worked up between the Planning Department and York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce (YNYCC).

Resolved:   To agree to the principle of the Protocol and delegate authority to finalise and implement the Protocol to the Head of Planning and Development Services.

Reason:      To allow the protocol to progress to a live and agreed document. 

The Head of Planning Development Services presented the report, advising that officer recommendation was for the Executive Member to agree the principle of the Protocol, and to delegate authority to her.

The Executive Member noted that this first Planning Protocol had been universally welcomed, within the Council and externally.

Referencing Public Participation, The Executive Member concurred that there was a need to embed the Protocol as a live document and to continue to work with the development community. He stated that he looked forward to seeing this evolve in the future.

The Executive Member commended the hard work of Council Officers, the Local Planning Authority, York Chamber of Commerce and local developers, all of whom had put in a lot of work to produce this Planning Protocol.

The Executive Member then

Resolved:   To agree to the principle of the Protocol and delegate authority to finalise and implement the Protocol to the Head of Planning and Development Services.

Reason:      To allow the protocol to progress to a live and agreed document. 

One of the technical documents that City of York Council as the Local Planning Authority (LPA) should publish is a validation list which clarifies the locally defined requirements when submitting applications of a particular type, scale or location. These local validation lists should be consulted on prior to use and should be reviewed every two years.

CYC has not got an up-to-date validation list. To rectify this, officers have drafted, and internally consulted on, a validation list which reflects the policies in the Local Plan and current national policy; this report requests the Executive Member’s consent to consult on this draft and subsequently to progress to its formal publication on the website in line with legislation.

Resolved:

i.                To agree to carry out a public consultation, in accordance with the draft SCI, on the draft validation list;

ii.               To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to agree any minor changes to the validation requirements arising from any changes to the Local Plan required by the inspectors pre-consultation and arising from representations received during the public consultation;

iii.             To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to agree a consultation strategy;

iv.             To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to publish the final version of the validation list on the CYC website;

v.              To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to authorise minor changes to the validation list in the future to reflect national or local policy changes.

Reason:      To allow a regulatory compliant Validation List to be published.

The Principal Strategic Planning Policy Officer introduced the report and presented it alongside the Head of Strategic Planning Policy. Officers noted that the Council did not currently have an up-to-date validation checklist and the proposed document filled that gap. It was intended that supplementary planning documents would augment this checklist in the future.

Officers clarified on record that the initial draft of the recommendation had been updated due to that version noting an incorrect delegation; the earlier draft recommended delegation to the Director of Environment, Transport and Planning and this had subsequently been amended to recommend delegation to the Director of City Development.

The Executive Member asked who this consultation would go to and for how long it would run. Officers advised that the statement of community involvement required citywide consultation, and that once responses were assessed they would be published on the CYC website, including any specific targeted groups. Officers advised that statutory consultations usually ran for 6-8 weeks.

The Executive Member agreed with officers proposals to do targeted consultation at the sector, stating that this made sense. He noted that the checklist would further facilitate the Council working alongside planners, developers and residents.

The Executive Member asked whether the validation checklist would come back to him for approval following completion of the consultation. Officers responded that it would not, as once delegated it would fall under the remit of the Director of City Development.

This confirmed, the Executive Member

Resolved:

i.                To agree to carry out a public consultation, in accordance with the draft SCI, on the draft validation list;

ii.               To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to agree any minor changes to the validation requirements arising from any changes to the Local Plan required by the inspectors pre-consultation and arising from representations received during the public consultation;

iii.             To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to agree a consultation strategy;

iv.             To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to publish the final version of the validation list on the CYC website;

v.              To delegate authority to the Director of City Development to authorise minor changes to the validation list in the future to reflect national or local policy changes.

Reason:      To allow a regulatory compliant Validation List to be published.