Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Development Framework Working Group held on 1 February 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the Local Development Framework Working Group meeting held on 1 February 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak, regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the remit of the Working Group, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00 pm on Monday 5 March 2007.

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

This report seeks Members’ views on the proposed methodology for the City of York Housing Land Availability Assessment prior to undertaking the study.

Members received a report which sought their views on the proposed methodology for the City of York Housing Land Availability Assessment (HLAA) prior to undertaking the study.

The draft Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) set out the following key stages to the HLAA methodology:

·  Establishing the process with partners;

·  Identifying all the settlements where housing could be provided;

·  Considering all potential sources of supply for new housing within these settlements;

·  Quantifying the supply – i.e. how many houses can these sources of supply potentially deliver;

·  Determining the likely level of windfall; and

·  Considering ‘developability’.

Having considered the draft methodology, attached at Annex A of the report, Members agreed that the document could be simplified and that clarity was needed on:

i)          the number of conversions there were in York.

ii)                 how  Changes of Use and Conversions as a potential source were determined and how those categories were defined.

iii)               why empty homes are not being used as a potential source - Councillors requested that an overall empty homes figure be included for information purposes.

iv)        the definition of primary , secondary and tertiary constraints.

v)                  where flood risk and listed buildings should fit within the constraints framework.

vi)                how the PPG17 Openspace Assessment would feed in the HLAA.

vii)              how York Northwest is being included in the process.

viii)            how the City Centre Zones could be subdivided to give more accurate potential in the City centre.

ix)                why 5% was being used as a non-implementation rate.

x)                  The phrase “developed out”, as shown in Paragraph 1.5

Members recognised that the HLAA process needed to be practical and manageable.  They also highlighted the need to restrict over development and made the following comments:

·          Appropriate sites suggested during the consultation on the Local Plan should be used to inform the process. 

·          Accessibility figures needed to reflect previous work carried out for the Local Plan.

·          Conservation areas should not be a primary constraint

·          Highway capacity should be a secondary constraint.

·          The Key on map 2 needed amending and it was suggested that pastel colours be used for zones.

·          The table on page 22 should be amended (in the identifying sites and windfalls section), as 1 ha was showing in both categories.

·          Zone Number 6 on Map 1 i.e. Foss Island,  should be known as Hungate.

·          Map 3a - f: Local Service Centres should be amended to reflect village settlement boundaries.

·          Other large villages should be considered as sources of potential for housing as well as the Local Service Centres identified

In regard to Figure 2.2, Members asked why land not previously developed had been included (including greenfield sites as a potential source), when concentration should be brownfield sources.  Members also commented that in Annex 1 there was a reference to the Inward Investment Board which was now called yorkengland.com.

It was noted that a draft report containing the HLAA document would be presented in Spring 2007 and Members  requested that the methodology be updated in line with the adopted Housing Land Availability Guidance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

This report introduces the draft supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 on Planning and Climate Change and informs Members of the new key strategic issues which this document raises.  It also advises of City of York’s potential to contribute to sub-regional renewable energy targets through the planning system, in advance of consultation on these matters as part of the Local Development Framework process.

Members received a report which introduced the draft supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 on Planning and Climate Change and informed them of the new key strategic issues which this document raised.  It also advised of City of York’s potential to contribute to sub-regional renewable energy targets through the planning system, in advance of consultation on these matters as part of the Local Development Framework process.

The draft supplement raised the following key strategic issues:

·        That the approach to the Core Strategy and the allocation of sites should consider how decentralised energy supply could contribute. This would require Local Planning Authorities to assess the potential for their areas to accommodate renewable and low-carbon technologies, including for micro-renewables to be secured in new residential, commercial or industrial development.  In terms of allocating land for development, it was proposed that priority be given to sites which performed well against a series of criteria, including:

u               the effect of development on biodiversity and the capacity for adaptation;

u               the contribution to be made from existing and new opportunities for open space to urban cooling

u               physical and environmental constraints on the development of land such as flood risk and stability, taking a precautionary approach to increases in risk that could arise as a result of likely changes to climate;

·        That consideration should be given to the allocation of sites for renewable and low carbon energy sources and its supporting infrastructure;

·        That it should be ensured that a significant proportion of the energy supply of substantial new development was gained on-site and renewably and/or from a decentralised, renewable or low carbon energy supply;

·        That the Regional Spatial Strategy should be required to establish carbon emission trajectories, whereby the performance of buildings would be monitored over time, including for the likely transport energy demands of the new development and its spatial distribution.

Figure 2 of the report showed a variety of means in which York could meet its indicative renewable energy target, and the implication of each of those means.  Consultation on the LDF would consider such potential approaches, and invite comment on the levels and means of providing energy from renewable sources in domestic, commercial and other settings.

Members asked that the energy hierarchy be used as a basis for any future approach, since that would first reduce the City’s consumption of energy before looking at alternative means of supply.  It was also suggested that more localised work be undertaken to assess York’s current and future energy demands.

RECOMMENDED:That the key strategic requirement of draft Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1), as detailed in the report, be noted and support be given for the issues raised to be considered as part of the consultation on the Local Development Framework.

REASON:To ensure that full consideration is given to emerging national planning guidance on climate change as part of the preparation of the Local Development Framework.