Agenda and minutes

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

Councillor Simpson Laing declared a personal interest in item 4 as she is on the York and North Yorkshire Housing Board. Also a personal interest in item 5 as she resides within the York Central area.

Councillor Riches declared a personal interest in item 5 as he resides within the York Central area.

Councillor Merrett declared a personal interest in item 5 in relation to cycle issues  as an honorary member of the Cycling Touring Club.

Councillor D’Agorne declared a personal interest in item 5 in relation to cycle issues as a member of the Cycling Touring Club.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Development Framework Working Group held on 9 January 2012.

RESOLVED:                That the minutes of the last meeting held on 9^th January 2012 be approved subject to the following amendment:

                                      Minute 22 recommendation be amended to reflect that Councillor Reid had asked for it to be made clear that the SPD would come back to the LDF Working Group.

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^nd March 2012.

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

This report was commissioned by the York and North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership to provide a comparative sub-regional Strategic Housing Market Assessment. Members are asked to recommend approval of the York specific Appendix as an evidence base to inform the LDF and the council’s planning policies for new homes.

Members considered a report which had been commissioned by the York and North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership to provide a comparative sub-regional Strategic Housing Market Assessment.

On 12 December 2011 the York and North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment was approved by the York and North Yorkshire Housing Board. Officers reported that it is now for each of the individual authorities to sign off the report and for Members to approve the York specific appendix as an evidence base to inform the Local Development Framework and the councils planning policies for new homes.

Members received a presentation from property and planning consultants GVA who had been commissioned to undertake the new SHMA on behalf of North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership.

Members raised the following queries about the data contained in the SHMA:

·        Concerns regarding some of the data not reflecting current prices in York, for example a 1 bedroom self contained property is considerably more than £375 per calendar month.

·        The treatment of Students in the figures, particularly in relation to international migration and whether Houses of Multiple Occupation are defined as a single household.

·        The assumptions used behind the international migration figures and the possibility they may change due to government policy.

·        The SHMA appears conservative in how it concluded the need for affordable homes and consideration needs to be given to how it feeds into the Core Strategy.

·        The figures are subject to constant change and it is difficult to say what is correct.

·        The SHMA provides a snapshot analysis and projects housing need over the next five years. Some of the data used (eg house prices, rents, household incomes) may be updated or refreshed  during the lifetime of the study.

Following the presentation, Members agreed Option 1 with the understanding that some of the information contained in the SHMA is already dated, particularly in respect of Government Policy and the Councils housing waiting list. They asked that clarification of the points raised be provided at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:                That the LDF Working Group recommends that Cabinet approve Option 1 to accept and sign off the findings of the North Yorkshire SHMA and the York specific annex to enable the SHMA to be used as an evidence base to inform the Local DF.

REASON:                    To ensure the council has an up to date and   

                                      robust evidence base that will inform the Local Development Framework         

This paper is presented further to a report to the LDF Working Group of December 2011 (appendix 1) setting out the findings of work undertaken to establish a transport approach, and site access strategy, on the York Central and former British Sugar/ Manor School sites. This report should be read in conjunction with the appended December 2011 report.

Members considered a report which was presented to them further to a report to the LDF Working Group in December 2011. It set out the findings of work undertaken to establish a transport approach and site access strategy on the York Central (YC) and former British Sugar/Manor School sites.

At the meeting in December 2011, Members deferred endorsing any York North West transport approach until such time as the background studies had been made publicly available and additional work requested by Members had been undertaken.

Officers outlined the report and members made the following comments:

·        Timeframes for commencement of development on York Central were discussed. Officers confirmed that following recent discussions with Network Rail, it was now clearer what their requirements would be and consequently progress has been made.

·        Asked that Officers continue to consider the impact on the route to schools, particularly Poppleton Road School, from the Leeman Road area.

·        A meaningful approach to the consultation with residents should be undertaken. This should include an exhibition showing the proposed access to York Central from Water End, given that it is a large piece of engineering which will change the landscape in the area.

·        As part of ongoing discussions and negotiations attention should be paid to differentiating between those infrastructure elements that are essential and those that are desirable.

Members thanked Officers for the additional work which had been carried out since the December meeting.

RESOLVED: (i)  That Members noted and recommended that Cabinet to endorse the approach outlined in the draft York Northwest Transport Masterplan, and its use in pre-planning enquiries, and planning applications within the York Northwest corridor.

(ii)  That Members noted and recommended that Cabinet endorse the proposed approach to accessing the York central site, the next steps to arriving at a preferred option, and the ultimate use of a preferred access approach to inform ongoing plan preparation development enquiries and public funding bids.

   (iii)  Note and endorse the proposed approach to undertake work to pursue the delivery of new pedestrian/cycle links and rail halt/link at the Former British Sugar/ Manor School Site, with the next step to engage with appropriate parties to take this forward.

REASONS:   (i)   To ensure that development in the corridor responds appropriately to its transport related context in promoting sustainable travel and mitigating residual impacts.

(ii) To ensure that this strategic regeneration site is re-developed and appropriately serviced.

(iii) To ensure that these strategic opportunities are progressed and appropriate provision is made for delivery.

This report summarises the responses received to the consultation on the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the former British Sugar/Manor School site which took place last year. A revised SPD document has been produced incorporating suggested changes to respond to issues raised. Members are asked to note the consultation findings and to recommend approval of the revised document.

Members considered a report which summarised the responses received on the consultation on the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the former British Sugar/Manor School site which took place last year. A revised SPD document had been produced incorporating suggested changes to respond to issues raised and was attached as a report annex showing tracked changes.

The report asked Members to note the consultation findings and recommend approval of the revised document for approval.

Officers outlined the report and Members attention was drawn to the following key points:

·        Policy Framework – the document now reflected  the approval of the 2011 York and North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment by the York and North Yorkshire Housing Board.

·        Quality Place/Environment – additional reference to the need for all types of open space had been added to strengthen the requirement following consultation.

·        Figure 17 – additional plans had been included to clarify the access approach.

Members queried whether the Council would be considering the adoption of green spaces within the site and felt that it was important for officers to consider at an early stage how such spaces would be managed as service charges are often unaffordable for potential residents of new properties.

RESOLVED: (i)  Note the responses received to the consultation.

(ii)  Recommend to the Cabinet that Option 1 is taken forward, with the proposed revisions to the SPD outlined in Annex 2 to be used for development management purposes and the addition of further mention of the management of green spaces at the site.

REASONS: (i)   To ensure the SPD is revised to take account of issues raised from the consultation together with other issues which have emerged since publication of the draft.

(ii)  To provide robust planning guidance to assess the acceptability of emerging development proposals and future planning applications for the area.