Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests which they might have in respect of business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Plan Working Group held on 10 October 2016.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2016 be approved as a correct record and then signed by the Chair.

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 Friday 2 December 2016.

Filming or Recording Meetings

Please note that this meeting may be filmed and webcast or audio recorded and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission. This recording can be played back at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts or, if sound recorded, this will be uploaded to the Council’s website following the meeting.

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting.  Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_20160809.pdf

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

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the Local Plan following the Preferred Sites consultation July – September 2016. It highlights other factors that have arisen since the consultation and sets out next steps for the consideration by Members.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the Local Plan following the Preferred Sites consultation which took place over the period July –September 2016. It highlighted other factors that had arisen since the consultation and set out next steps.

Officers circulated a written representation from Jennifer Hubbard, Town Planning Consultant, which urged Members to treat the Ministry of Defence (MOD) sites in the report as windfall sites, rather than delay publication of the next consultation version of the plan.

Officers gave a brief background to the report and answered Member questions, stating that:

·        The Department for Communities and Local Government had been consulted and were sympathetic to the delays caused by the MOD announcement. However, this was a verbal response and nothing had yet been received in writing.

·        Other Local Authorities had been challenged for not properly considering brownfield sites such as the MOD land before greenfield release.

·        The MOD had suggested they would seek planning permission for the sites before the military vacated them. Further clarity would be sought on this and on any other associated military land that may become available in York over the plan period. 

·        Embedding these additional sites into the plan, rather than classing them as windfall sites, would allow comprehensive technical work to take place, including transport modelling and a full assessment of the impact on infrastructure in the surrounding areas.

·        Following the DCLG release of Sub-National Household Projections in July, work on figures for York was currently being undertaken by GL Hearn. Until this analysis had taken place it was impossible to comment on the impact this may have on the plan. The figures would come back to LPWG for interrogation once complete. This work included looking at the alternative OAN’s submitted as representations to the Preferred Sites consultation.

·        Failure to meet the deadline for the plan would have financial implications; potentially a DCLG team would be embedded to complete the work and a surcharge applied to the Local Authority.

·        North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) submitted two responses to the consultation as, after discussion with CYC who felt some of the issues raised in the initial response were inaccurate, they requested to withdraw the original response and submit a further response.

Members paid tribute to the work that officers had carried out up to this point.

During debate Members raised the following points:

·        Thought needed to be given to whether it was preferable to follow the recommendations in the report and delay the plan – opening up the risk of not meeting the deadline, or to ignore the MOD sites (or include them as windfalls) and risk being penalised for not giving adequate consideration to brownfield sites. 

·        Some Members stressed the importance of not allowing this process to be taken out of the hands of local democracy. Missing the deadline could mean residents and their elected representatives losing their say.

·        The MOD sites were large and had some complex planning issues. Some Members agreed that technical work was necessary to show  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The purpose of this report is to ask Members to acknowledge the receipt of an ePetition entitled ‘Ownership of Property and Land in York Plans’, which was submitted by lead petitioner, Geoff Beacon on 10 July 2016 (this was subject to a further wording amendment by the petitioner), and to consider how it should be best dealt with by the Council.

Members received a report which asked them to acknowledge the receipt of an ePetition entitled ‘Ownership of Property and Land in York Plans’, which was submitted by lead petitioner Geoff Beacon on 10 July 2016 (this was subject to a further wording amendment by the petitioner), and to consider how it would be best dealt with by the Council.

Officers clarified to Members that the petition was being considered as it had received over 10 signatures.

Resolved:  That Members noted the content of the ePetition and referred it to the Executive Member for Transport and Planning to be considered at a future Decision Session.

Reason:     In order that the ePetition is considered, and actioned as appropriate, due to the nature of its content.