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 may have in respect of the business on the agenda. 

Councillor D’Agorne declared a personal interest in agenda item 4 as an employee of York College, which was referred to in the document.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Plan Working Group held on 7^th February 2013.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the meting held on 7 February 2013 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 Friday 19^th April 2013.

It was reported that there was one registration to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme and that two Members had also requested to speak.

Mr Keogh, representing the York Chamber of Commerce,  spoke in respect of agenda item 4 – City of York Local Plan.  He stated that the drawing up of the draft Local Plan was welcomed as it provided an essential framework.  He fully supported the housing targets to ensure that the housing needs of the city’s workforce were catered for.  It would also stimulate the building industry and lead to increased employment.  The improvements to transportation were also welcomed.  The main concerns related to the employment land provision.  Mr Keogh expressed concern that the land that was proposed for this purpose may not be sufficient or be in the right location.  Further representations about this matter would be made during the consultation process and York Chamber of Commerce would continue to work with the Council regarding these issues.  

Councillor Warters spoke in respect of agenda item 4 – City of York Local Plan. He expressed concern at the cancellation of Local Plan Working Group meetings and stated that the Working Group had not been sufficiently involved in the drafting of the Local Plan.  He queried the purpose of the Working Group and stated that there had not been cross-party input or debate.

Councillor Watt, as a member of the committee, expressed his concern that a press conference had been held on the draft Local Plan prior to the document being issued to members of the Local Plan Working Group.  He stated that the plan was an attack on rural areas and expressed strong concerns about the impact that the Plan would have on Skelton.  Councillor Watt then left the meeting.

Councillor Alexander spoke in respect of agenda item 4 – City of York Local Plan. He stated that many people of his generation had given up hope of home ownership.  The lack of housing supply in the city was a cause of concern.  He drew attention to the links between jobs and housing.  Councillor Alexander stated that the Council was keen to develop brownfield sites, for example the development at Terry’s, but there was insufficient brownfield sites to meet demand.  He stated that the target that had been set would be difficult to achieve at first but that there was a moral obligation to provide more housing in the city.

 iThe purpose of this report is to allow Members to consider the Local Plan Preferred Options and Proposals Map (Annex A).

Members considered a report which presented the Local Plan Preferred Options and Proposals Map.  A report on this issue was due to be considered in detail by Cabinet at a meeting on 30 April 2013.  The Local Plan Working Group’s recommendations would be presented to Cabinet to help inform any decisions taken.

The Chair stated that the Plan sought to accommodate business needs and provide a more substantial housing supply.  The target of 1090 aimed to meet existing and expected economic growth but whilst care had been taken in choosing sites it was also important to maintain York’s setting.  Allocations concentrated on larger sites would create new communities and would provide the necessary facilities and transport infrastructure.

Councillor Barton stated that he was very concerned that the documentation referred to Holme Hill.  He stated that this was a farm and not an area of land.  This had caused significant problems for the residents concerned.  Officers were asked to look into this matter and consider an alternative approach.

Some concerns were expressed at the short timescale within which members of the Working Group had been expected to study the documentation and at the fact that a press conference had been called prior to the agenda papers being published.  Concerns were also expressed that some of the supporting documentation had been made available on-line only and was not easily accessible.

Members went through the documentation and raised the following issues:

Figure 1 in the report

·        Concerns were expressed that the map showed all sites considered for development potential but the documentation did not provide reasons as to why some of the sites had been ruled out.  The rationale needed to be made public at the consultation stage. 

Section 1: Strategic Framework

·        Para 1.7 - In respect of the “duty to co-operate” more information should be included as to the bodies that would be consulted, particularly in respect of cross boundary impacts.

Section 2: Spatial Portrait

·        Para 2.59 – the references to journey to work patterns do not place sufficient emphasis on the journeys of people who live in York but who work in another area.  It would be useful if, during the consultation process, work could be carried out to ascertain the reasons for this and also why people choose to commute into York but not live here.  Do the reasons only relate to housing?

·        Para 2.69 and 2.70 – need to be kept updated to reflect the changing situation.

Section 5: Spatial Strategy

·        Employment growth (page 44) – greater clarity needed, for example as to how the expectation of employment had been arrived at, including the three options and an explanation of what is meant by a “policy on” scenario.

·        Page 45 – it was noted that the figure of 47,500 people should read “55,000”

·        Greater clarity required in respect of the four housing growth options.

·        Officers responded to Members’ questions regarding windfalls.

·        Concerns were raised regarding the identified new settlement at “Holme Hill” and as to whether a settlement of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.