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.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal, prejudicial or pecuniary interests they may have in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Plan Working Group held on 19^th October 2015.

Resolved:           That the minutes of the last meeting held on 19^th October 2015 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 27^th November 2015.

Filming or Recording 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/file/6453/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetingspdf

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

This report has been prepared to inform and seek views from Members of the Local Plan Working Group in respect of work to date on the development of a York Central local plan policy, to inform overall approach to site allocation.

Members considered a report which informed them of work to date on the development of a York Central local plan policy. The report also updated Members on the work to date on this strategic development site and future milestones for delivery. The Local Plan Working Group was being asked to comment ahead of a separate report to Executive on the same subject.

Officers presented the report and advised that progress had been made over the last 6-12 months to facilitate development at the site. The report set out the starting point and members were informed that it was the intention to initiate consultations in the new year.

Members made the following comments:

·        York will only achieve high value jobs if the site provides Grade A office and commercial space, and it would be unwise to reduce the impact of Enterprise Zone funding by displacing commercial uses in favour of residential development.

·        The residential development scenario figures provided at paragraph 24 of the report were queried by Members. Officers were asked to consider offering a further option of 2000 residential units and 100,000 sq m of commercial space. Officers confirmed that work was ongoing on these figures and further work would be carried out following consultations.

·        The York Central residential quanta in previous iterations of planning documents including Local Plan, Core Strategy and Planning Brief were discussed.It was clarified that concerns raised by the Inspector at the exploratory meeting for the Core Strategy in respect of York Central were related to viability and deliverability of the identified strategic brownfield sites (York Central and British Sugar) rather than concerns specifically over quanta and density.

·        A number of Members felt that family homes should be provided at the site, but some Members queried whether other styles of family housing could also be considered such as 3 or 4 bedroom flats.

·        Some Members felt that it was not possible to have high numbers of both housing and business use without increasing density to an unacceptable level which would negatively impact upon traffic flow and open spaces.

·        It was reported that the Holgate Ward Councillors would support a mixture of housing styles and not just flats.

·        A Member pointed out that there was little mention in the report of sustainability issues and stressed the importance of the site being low carbon and environmentally sustainable.

·        A Member queried the figure given at paragraph 45 of the report which suggested that 10-30% of the site would be given over to other ancillary uses. It was confirmed that  this allowance was made for ancillary uses, such as leisure, to enliven ground floors and create a vibrant mixed use environment,  and that the figure was a suggested range, in advance of more detailed work.

·        A Member queried how other significant sites such as the British Sugar site may impact on what can be achieved at York Central. Officers confirmed that York Central will not be influenced by other sites.

·        A Member requested that consideration of the York Central  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.