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 Merrett declared a personal interest in relation to Agenda item 5 (City of York Streetscape Strategy and Guidance) as an honorary member of the Cycle Touring Club and as a York Cycle Campaign member.

Councillor D’Agorne also declared a personal interest in relation to Agenda item 5 (City of York Streetscape Strategy and Guidance) as a member of the Cycle Touring Club and the York Cycle Campaign.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Plan Working Group held on 13^th January 2014.

Arising out of discussion of the minutes, Officers confirmed that they would report back their findings to Members in relation to the final two bullet points in Minute 12 – City of York Council and North York Moors National Park Minerals and Waste Joint Plan. ^1.

Resolved:           That the minutes of the last meeting of the Group held on 13 January 2014 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 28^th March 2014.

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

Please note this meeting will be filmed and webcast and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission. This broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

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 (whose 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/downloads/download/3130/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings

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

This report provides Members with an overview of recent advice issued by the Planning Inspectorate in relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation and Permitted Development Rights.

Consideration was given to a report which provided details in relation to recent advice issued by the Planning Inspectorate in relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and Permitted Development Rights.

It was noted that when the HMO Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPD)  had been updated, earlier in the year, the view had been that HMO’s did not benefit from permitted development rights and text to this effect had been added into the SPD. However, since that time, an advice note had been issued confirming that HMO’s, including those falling within Class 4, could benefit from the permitted development rights granted to dwelling houses.

To ensure that the SPD was fit for purpose and reflected current national advice Members were requested to amend the SPD accordingly.

Members expressed concerns at the proposed changes including the impact this could have on residential streets and at recent appeal decisions on HMO properties. It was suggested that information relating to the number of bedrooms should be recorded when HMO applications were submitted.

Consideration was then given to the following options:

Option 1 – approve the proposed minor factual amendments to paragraph 5.21 of the Controlling the Concentration of HMOs SPD.

Option 2 – do not approve the application subject to amendments to the Neighbourhood Plan boundary and request that Officers explore the issue further.

Recommended:   i)      That Cabinet approve the proposed minor factual amendments to paragraph 5.21 of the Controlling the Concentration of HMO’s Supplementary Planning Guidance as outlined in Option 1 in the report.

ii)       That Officers be requested to monitor the number of pre-applications received in relation to permitted development rights on HMO’s in order to gain a comprehensive picture of the affect of this change.

Reason:                        So that the SPD is fit for purpose and reflects current national advice.

The Local Plan Working Group are asked to agree the City of York Streetscape Strategy and Guidance document as part of supporting evidence for Local Plan policy and development management purposes.  They are also asked to support or recommend its consideration by Cabinet or Cabinet Member for adoption as a key Council document.

Members considered a report which presented the City of York Streetscape Strategy and Guidance document at Annex A which gave a strategic overview, detailed analysis and guidance for the maintenance, management and enhancement of the city’s streets and spaces, as part of the Reinvigorate York programme.

As York remained one of the few cities without a public realm strategy the production of this had been seen as a priority for the Reinvigorate York Board to inform future city centre improvement work.

Officers presented the document, outlining the problems which they had tried to overcome, the 6 key strategic principles and the proposed implementation framework. It was noted that Officers had, as far as possible, included all the comments received. Members expressed their appreciation to Officers for the work undertaken.

Members made a number of comments in relation to the document the main ones being:

General

·        York’s attractiveness came from its differences, the buildings and roofscapes

·        Questioned how the report related to the rural areas and villages. Officers confirmed that the detail in the document had been designed to relate to the urban area however the principals related to all areas of the city.

·        Request for a presumption in favour of the retention of York flagstones when works were required on the city’s footpaths. Officers confirmed that wherever possible this would be done, however the paving policy, referred to in the report, was only an operating document rather than an approved policy

·        Key Gateway streets appeared to have been overlooked e.g. Layerthorpe

·        Secondary Shopping Streets – it was unclear as to which part of Heworth the report was referring to on the map at page 185

·        Questioned default style of bollard/bins suggested and policy for changing this, if appropriate. Officers confirmed that the default furniture was the baseline and other types, such as more contemporary styles may be suitable in some locations but should be of a high quality and reflect the setting. Replacement would be undertaken as and when necessary.

Detailed Comments

·        Request to remove personal details in the consultation responses. Officers confirmed that this would be done.

·        Page 110 – The Vision: Reference in fifth paragraph to “Our visions for York are that:

York must be for people/York must be for everyone” Officers agreed to remove one of these references

·     Need to ‘keep things simple’ for dementia sufferers. Officers confirmed that this document would help simplify the public realm for both residents and visitors

·     Request for wayfinding city information maps to be correctly orientated to assist visitors

·     Page 129 - Principle 6: Light and dark:  key message regarding architectural lighting required adding in to the text and there was a need to ensure safety in the darker areas. Officers agreed to reword this section accordingly

·     Page 132 – Footnote 4: amend to read ‘pers. comm, Sir Ron Cooke’

·     Page 136 – Footways: Officers confirmed that recommended paving was available in specially reinforced versions that could be used in areas where vehicle over-run was likely

·     Page 144 – Cycle  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.