Agenda item

This report advises Members on the production of a revised Local Development Scheme (LDS) for the City as required under the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) and presents a draft of the LDS to Members for consideration prior to formal submission to the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber.

Members received a report which advised them on the production of a revised Local Development Scheme (LDS) for the City as required under the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) and presented a draft of the LDS, attached as Annex A, for consideration prior to formal submission to the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber.

The proposed LDS covered the following six key areas:

(i)      Introduction – highlighting the requirements of the new system and the authority’s current position;

(ii)      Programme & Contents – covering the process of adopting development planning documents under the new planning system and highlighting those that the Council intends to prepare over the next three years;

(iii) Annual Monitoring Report;

(iv)Sustainability Appraisal & Strategic Environmental Assessment;

(v)  Existing Council Strategies;

(vi)      Resources.

The report presented two options for consideration:

·        Option 1 - To approve the LDS as drafted by officers for submission to Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber.

·        Option 2 - To seek amendments to the LDS through the recommendations of the Working Group or alternatively request that officers prepare an alternative project plan.

Officers detailed a number of minor amendments to the wording of the proposed LDS:

(i)   To paragraph 1.6 to indicate that the Panel’s Report on the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy would be issued in March 2007;

(ii)  To paragraph 1.9 to reword the final sentence to read, “This document will be used for the purposes of Development Control until such time as it is superseded by elements of the LDF”;

(iii)To paragraph 2.7 to add a sentence to indicate that the timetable for the emerging evidence base was detailed in Figure 2;

(iv)To paragraph 2.9 to reword it to read, “An assessment has been undertaken to identify key risks to the programme.  These are outlined in Table 1 below along with potential mitigating actions”;

(v)  To the Second Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP2) row of Table 2 to clarify that the key aims listed related to the Second Local Transport Plan (LTP2);

(vi)To the Economic Development Programme row of Table 2 to stipulate that the 2006/07 version of the programme would be used instead of the 2004/05 version and to list the priority themes as maintaining economic success, identifying skill needs and supporting people into employment and lifelong learning;

(vii)To Table 2 to clarify that the Older People’s Housing Strategy, the Homelessness Strategy, the Supporting People Strategy, the Private Sector Renewal Policy and the Empty Homes Policy all formed part of the overall Housing Strategy;

(viii)To the second paragraph of the Statement of Community Involvement section of Annex A to replace “Environmental Forum” with “York Environment Forum” and “Inclusive City Reference Group” with “Inclusive York Forum”;

(ix)To Table 7 of Annex A to indicate that the consideration of representations on the Issues and Options document and the preparation of a Preferred Options document would be completed by December 2008;

(x)  To Table 12 of Annex A to indicate that the date of production for the Central Historic Core Conservation Area Appraisal would be July 2007, for the Employment Land Review would be March 2007 and for the Housing Land Availability Assessment would be April 2007;

(xi)To Table 12 of Annex A to reword the first sentence of the synopsis for the SINC (Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation) Review to read, ”This study is a re-appraisal of the procedures and criteria for designating sites of importance for nature conservation, in line with new guidance produced by DEFRA”.

With regards to the revised work programme for the Local Development Framework (LDF), set out in Figure 2 of the draft LDS, some Members expressed concerns regarding the delays in adopting key Development Plan Documents (DPDs).  Officers outlined the reasons for this revised timetable, which included national and regional issues, additional work commitments placed on the City Development Team, staffing problems and a lack of clarity about how the new planning system would operate in practice when the LDS was originally prepared.

Members noted that the Issues and Options consultation for the Key Allocations and Proposals Map and the York Northwest Area Action Plan was timetabled for November-December 2007 and that the formal consultation for the City Centre Area Action Plan and the York Northwest Area Action Plan, following submission to the Secretary of State, was scheduled for November-December 2009.  Some concern was expressed that these consultation exercises ran into Christmas holiday periods and officers were asked to review the timetable to investigate if the consultation could be extended into January.

Some Members also expressed concern that the Housing Market Assessment and Central Historic Core Conservation Area Appraisal, that formed part of the emerging evidence base for the LDF, would not be completed until July 2007 and that the Issues and Options consultation on the Core Strategy and Strategic Policies would already have started by then.  Officers were asked to review the timetable to investigate if these documents could be made available prior to the start of the consultation.

Members noted that there was a three year gap between the end of the North Yorkshire County Structure Plan (which covered the City of York) and the adoption of the new DPDs and expressed concern that this might impact on the Council’s ability to control green belt development using Local Plan policies.  Officers advised that they had discussed this matter with Government Office and submitted a request to the Regional Assembly to save the green belt policies from the Structure Plan for use over this period.  They agreed to provide an update on this matter to a future LDF Working Group meeting.

Members also noted that the 1996 Biodiversity Audit formed part of the existing evidence base and expressed concern that this no longer complied with national standards and was dated and inadequate.  Officers advised that they were currently looking into this issue and would ensure that an updated version was provided. 

RECOMMENDED:  That it be recommended to the Executive:

(i)That the proposed Local Development Scheme, attached at Annex A of the report, be approved for formal submission to Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber, subject to the following:

                        a) The minor amendments recommended by officers (as outlined above);

                        b) A review of the work programme to extend consultation periods where they fall across Christmas and to ensure that the Housing Market Assessment and Central Historic Core Conservation Area Appraisal were available prior to the Issues and Options consultation on the Core Strategy and Strategic Policies;

                        c) Any changes necessary as a result of recommendations made regarding the York Northwest Area Action Plan (minute 32 refers);

                        (ii) That the making of any other necessary changes arising from either the recommendations of the LDF Working Group or the Executive prior to the submission to Government Office, be delegated to the Director of City Strategy in consultation with the Executive Member and Opposition Spokesperson for City Strategy;

                        (iii) That the making of any minor changes arising from comments made by Government Office or the Planning Inspectorate following formal submission, be delegated to the Director of City Strategy in consultation with the Executive Member and Opposition Spokesperson for City Strategy.

REASON:(i) So that the Local Development Scheme can be submitted to Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber;

(ii)               So that any recommended changes can be incorporated into the Local Development Scheme prior to its formal submission to Government Office;

                        (iii) So that any comments made by Government Office or the Planning Inspectorate can be incorporated into the Local Development Scheme.