Agenda item

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 17 April 2009.

It was reported that six people had registered to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Mark Waters addressed the meeting on behalf of York Natural Environment Trust (YNET). He referred to the City of York Local Development Framework – Draft Core Strategy Preferred Options, Section 14: Green Infrastructure. He was critical of the Council’s development policy, particularly with regard to West Carr Lane Osbaldwick and East Metcalfe Lane and the suggested 250 acres for development. He referred to the 2006 public enquiry with regard to Metcalfe lane and the Green Belt boundary, and on behalf of YNET questioned why this site had been promoted as urban expansion. He re-iterated the request he had made at the LDF meeting on 9 March 2009 for an open public meeting on this.

John Reeves, Chairman of the Helmsley Group, spoke about the proposed change to the Affordable Housing Policy referred to in Section 9 of the report on the agenda. He stated that developers wanted a sustainable solution to the affordable housing issue. He stated that developers could not deliver a policy, which they believed would not work, and which was not sufficiently flexible. He further stated that one-size fits all policy would not work and that anything above 25% would not work. The main issues were density - the higher this was, the less likely it was to work financially and the mix of tenure – and social rental was a thorny issue and had a real affect on values and that there were no plans to develop at the present time. He invited councillors and officers to attend a frank and open meeting to discuss these issues.

Geoff Scott, Managing Director of Hogg the Builder, also spoke about the Affordable Housing Policy referred to in Section 9 of the report. He stated that 15 months ago he had asked for discussions on the 50% affordable housing plans. He also spoke of the current very different economic climate and the effect that this had had on the building industry. He felt that the report was seriously flawed and failed to recognise the difference between building in urban and rural locations. He added that he did not agree with the advice given in the report and felt that the exclusion of settlements of over 5000 people was worrying with damages to communities resulting and consequences with regard to the viability of house building. He stated that this would lead to a building standstill.

Matthew Laverack, Partner with Laverack Associates, also spoke about the Affordable Housing Policy. He stated that the 50% Affordable Housing Policy had failed and that the latest policy would make things worse. He added that the house building industry had been strangled and building costs had increased, while selling prices had fallen drastically.

Lillian Coulson, Regional Planning Manager, Persimmon Homes, also spoke about the Affordable Housing Policy. She stated that she felt that the Officer report was idealistic and unviable and would lead to a decrease in housing production. She stated that the affordable housing target looked at need and not at viability. She noted that since the 50% target used by some London boroughs had been introduced, little affordable housing had been produced and that was in a better economic period. In York, it was stated, that the price of flats had fallen by half and houses by 20-30%. This had meant a large loss of revenue and for larger developments, a huge loss. The speaker also emphasised that the officer report ignored house building sustainability and did not reflect PPS3. The speaker urged officers to reflect on the report and to meet with their planners.

Tom Hughes, from the Meadlands Area Residents Association, commented that the Minutes of the 6 April meeting were not yet available.  He referred to the LDF Working Group meeting of 9 March 2009 and the reference to Green Belt Land and to the discussions that were held at Full Council Meeting on 2 April 2009, as well as a recent Liberal Democrat Newsletter. He stated that local residents welcomed the news that Green Belt sites were classified as unsuitable for development. With reference to page 92 of the LDF Working Group Agenda of 20 April 2009, Mr Hughes asked whether the vote taken at the Council Meeting on 2 April 2009 had been dealt with at the LDF Working Group meeting of 6 April and how this had affected the report presented to Members at the 20 April 2009 meeting.