Agenda and minutes

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

Members were asked to declare at this point any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Councillor Merrett declared a personal interest in general issues on the agenda items relating to cycling, as an honorary member of the Cyclists Touring Club and a member of Cycling England.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Development Framework Working Group held on 13 November 2007.

RESOLVED :That the minutes of the meeting of the Local Development Framework Working Group held on 13 November 2007 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 Monday 17 December 2007.

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 get input from Members at an early stage in the production of the City Centre Area Action Plan (AAP).  The report outlines progress to date, and sets out the proposed scope, purpose and content of the AAP. Members views are sought on each of these issues and Officers will be using a presentation and ‘workshop’ approach at the meeting to stimulate debate.  The City Development team will report back to the Working Group in March 2008 with the draft document for approval prior to public consultation.  Consultation on an Issues and Options document is timetabled in the Local Development Scheme (LDS) for March 2008.

Members considered a report which requested input from them at an early stage in the production of the City Centre Area Action Plan (AAP). The report outlined progress to date, and proposed scope, purpose and content of the AAP.

Members received a presentation which covered the following areas :

• Issues and Options
• Progress
• Next Steps
• Scope and Purpose
• Proposed Contents
• Shopping in the City Centre
• Living in the City Centre
• Evening Activities and Entertainment in the City Centre
• Culture and Tourism in the City Centre
• Streets and Squares in the City Centre
• Green Spaces and Rivers in the City Centre
• Working in the City Centre
• Accessing the City Centre
• Gateway Streets
• Cultural Quarter
• Public realm improvements
• Enhancing and Accessing York’s Riverside
• Castle Piccadilly area
• The style of the document
• Title of the Plan

Members made the following comments:

• The need to ensure that the needs of York residents, as well as visitors to the city, are taken into account
• Ensuring that sustainability issues are considered for all aspects included in the Plan
• The need for evening activities to take into account the needs of families and visitors to the city
• Addressing the perception of crime in the city centre in the evenings
• The need to make York more viable for visitors in terms of promoting those attractions that are free to visit and achieving an appropriate mix of tourism
• Creating a “Yorkshire feel” for visitors to the city
• Improving the visual aspect of the riverside and improving access to and links between riversides and the City Centre
• Ensuring pedestrian zones are effective
• Identifying areas in the city in need of regeneration, such as Micklegate
• Accessibility to the city centre by public transport
• The need for secure cycle parking
• Accessibility of bridges by cyclists – e.g. Scarborough Bridge
• The need to define the actual area covered by the Action Plan   
• Look at the routes into the City Centre including Fishergate and Leeman Road
• Consider the implications of the World Heritage Site bid

Members commented that their involvement at this early stage in the process was very useful and productive.

RESOLVED :(i) That progress to date on the City Centre Area Action Plan be noted;

                                    (ii) That the input provided by Members to Officers as detailed above be noted;

                                    (iii) That the Next Steps be noted and that Officers be requested to produce a draft Issues and Options report for the Key Issues and Potential Action Areas (incorporating Members comments) and report back to the Working Group in due course¹;

                                    (iv)  That any further comments from Members be forwarded to Officers by 21 December.

REASON :                 (i) So as to be aware of the progress made on this component of the Local Development Scheme;

                                    (ii) To steer the direction of the Area Action Plan to incorporate all key issues relevant to the future of the City Centre;

                                    (iii) So that an Area Action Plan can be produced for the City Centre in accordance with the Local Development Scheme;

                                    (iv) To  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

The purpose of this report is to report back to Members the additional work that has been completed and the subsequent amendments made to the draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) following the LDF Working Group (LDFWG) meeting on 13^th November. At this meeting Members requested that additional work be carried out in a number of key areas particularly regarding housing densities. This report summarises the main changes made to the draft report and annex 1 to this report presents the revised draft SHLAA report with the changes highlighted as tracked changes. 

Members considered a report which gave details of the additional work that had been completed and the subsequent amendments made to the draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) following the LDF Working Group meeting on 13 November 2007. The report summarised the main changes made to the draft report and annex 1 to the report showed the changes highlighted.

Officers updated that the Masterplan of Derwenthorpe included in the report was out of date, and provided an up to date copy to Members.

Members made the following comments :

·        That the Ward details in the document be checked and corrected

·        That a caveat be included that the reference to individual sites be based on individual density

·        That the use of consultants be reviewed to ensure that in-house resources are used where possible

·        To review the wording of paragraph 7.20 of Annex 1

·        Information to be added to the document on community facilities

·        Layout to be amended paragraph 7.67 of Annex 1 and subsequent table

·        Details of Lowfield School figure 35 of Annex 1 to be checked

RESOLVED :(i) That, subject to the recommendations and comments as detailed above, Phase 1 of the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment as part of the LDF Evidence Base, be published¹;

(ii)               That it be delegated to the Director of City Strategy, in consultation with the Executive Member for City Strategy and the Shadow Executive Member, the making of any other necessary changes arising from the recommendation of the LDF Working Group, prior to its publication as part of the LDF Evidence Base;

(iii) That any further comments on the document be passed to Officers by 21 December.

REASON :                 (i)         To inform the decisions on the policy options for future housing sites for York as part of the LDF.

                                    (ii)        So that any recommended changes can be incorporated into the SHLAA prior to its publication.

(iii) To enable Members comments to be taken into account.