Agenda item

This report will:

·        provide an update to Members on the work undertaken on the MOD sites highlighted in previous reports to LPWG and Executive;

·        seek the views of Members on the methodology and studies carried out to inform the housing and employment that the City is tasked with accommodating;

·        seek the views of Members on the most appropriate way of accommodating this future growth;

·        ask for Members approval of non-housing and employment site specific policies; and

·        request the approval of Members for officers to undertake the necessary work to produce a draft plan based on the recommendations of the Executive for the purposes of consultation along with associated technical papers.

Members considered a report that

·        provided an update on the work undertaken on the Ministry ofDefence (MOD) sites highlighted in previous reports to LPWG and Executive;

·        sought their views on the methodology and studies carried out to inform the housing and employment that the City was tasked with accommodating;

·        sought their views on the most appropriate way of accommodating this future growth;

·        sought their approval of non-housing and employment site specific policies; and

·        requested the approval for officers to undertake the necessary work to produce a draft plan based on the recommendations of the Executive for the purposes of consultation along with associated technical papers.

Officers gave an update and confirmed the report and appendices made up the Local Plan for York. It included the responses from the preferred sites consultation and also highlighted officers and various external organisations responses to the future housing and employment needs, including the suitability of sites for future development.

In answer to some Members questions officers confirmed:

·        a compositedraft Local Plan would be opened for city wide consultation around September 2017 for six weeks. The comments raised would then be considered by the Local Plan Working Group and Executive around January 2018 before submitting it to the Planning Inspectorate around spring 2018, where the examination would take between 6 to 9 months. 

·        the Plan could be adopted around early 2019 and would set out the Green Belt boundaries for the next 20 years.

·        the MOD sites identified for housing would be delivered from 2021 and 2031 and the transport infrastructure would continue to be considered in consultation with Strensall Parish Council.

·        they would continue to receive clarity from the MOD regarding their properties being included in the housing stock for York.

·        Neighbourhood Plans had to be produced in accordance with an adopted Local Plan.

·     Local Plans could be subject to a review every 5 years.

In answer to Members questions regarding site H56, St John's Playing Fields on Windmill Lane the Head of Strategic Planning stated that the site was included in the site selection because Sport England had confirmed that the Haxby Road site provided a replacement for the recreational facilities provided by site H56. The officer felt that this meant the site was acceptable to be included in the Local Plan site selection.

The Assistant Director for Planning and Public Protection also clarified that site H56 would not be removed from the site selection regardless of any negative response received during the Regulation 18 consultation because the site already had planning permission and it would be perverse to remove a site from the Local Plan if it had a planning permission approved.

Following questions the Chair highlighted each recommendation and opened each one for debate where GL Hearn’s draft Strategic Housing Market Assessment and the housing allocation figures were discussed in great detail with all Members putting forward their views. Some Members stated their dissatisfaction to reject the evidence put forward and felt the housing allocation was underestimated. Further discussions took place around the economic needs for the city and the evidence base to ensure deliverability of the housing allocation of 867 dwellings per year and the desirability to produce a balanced Plan.

The Preferred Sites Consultation was then considered and during debate some Members made the following comments:

·        Remove from Table 5 (page 22 of the report), Victoria Farm, Maythorpe and land rear of Rufforth Primary School.

·        Consideration to be given to the transport infrastructure around the Boroughbridge Road area when the Civil Service and British Sugar sites were developed.

·        Concerns over the size of the development land proposed at ST7.

·        Business Parks and employment land should be explored more in the consultation

·        Land to the west of Wigginton Road should not be developed.

Members noted that Executive could only delegate to officers and a detail discussion took place regarding delegation of powers to the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection, the Leader and Deputy Leader.

The Committee thanked those officers who had worked on the Local Plan and agreed it was a long and complex exercise.  Further appreciation was shown to the Head of Strategic Planning and his team.

Resolved:  That the LPWG recommend to Executive:

(i)           That on the basis of the housing analysis set out in paragraphs 82 - 92 of the report, the increased figure of 867 dwellings per annum, based on the latest revised sub national population and household projections published by the Office for National Statistics and the Department of Communities and Local Government, be accepted.

That the recommendation prepared by GL Hearn in the draft Strategic Housing Market Assessment, to apply a further 10% to the above figure for market signals (to 953 dwellings per annum), be not accepted on the basis that Hearn’s conclusions were speculative and arbitrary, rely too heavily on recent short-term unrepresentative trends and attach little or no weight to the special character and setting of York and other environmental considerations.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(ii)          That the employment land requirement included, arising from the draft ELR Addendum (Annex 2), be considered and agreed as the evidence base upon which the Local Plan should be progressed.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(iii)        That the increased figure to 867 dwellings per annum, be met by the changes to sites within Table 4 (page 21 of the report) and by the following changes to sites from Table 5 (page 22 of the report), the inclusion of Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Imphal Barracks, Nestle South, Grove House and the former Clifton Without Primary School, the deletion of Heworth Green North (H25) and Whiteland Field, Haxby (H54) and the change from a housing site to an employment site of Poppleton Garden Centre. The rest of the changes included in Table 5 should not be included.

That the changes to employment sites highlighted in Table 6 (page 25 of the report) be accepted and to accept the following changes to sites listed in Table 7 (page 25 of the report) – the changes to York Central, the inclusion of Towthorpe Lines and Whitehall Grange, the inclusion of ST19 Land at Northminster Business Park based on the Preferred Sites Consultation (2016) position and the deletion of site ST6 – Land at Grimston Bar. The rest of the changes included in Table 7 should not be included (this refers to the proposed extensions at ST26 and ST27 and two new sites listed).

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(iv)        That the revised policy approach to Gypsy and Traveller provision highlighted within the report and Annex 9 be agreed.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(v)         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader to approve all housing and employment growth related policies (including site specific planning principles) and the non-site related policy modifications at schedule (Annex 7) in accordance with the approved evidence base.

That the Leader and Deputy Leader keep Group Leaders informed through Group Leaders meetings.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed

(vi)        That the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader, be delegated to approve changes to the non-site related policy modifications schedule (Annex 7) following the completion of viability work.

That the Leader and Deputy Leader keep Group Leaders informed through Group Leaders meetings.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(vii)      That following the approval of the evidence base and policy in relation to housing and employment, authority be given to the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader to produce a composite draft Local Plan for the purposes of consultation.

That the Leader and Deputy Leader keep Group Leaders informed through Group Leaders meetings.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(viii)     That the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader be delegated the signing-off of further technical reports and assessments to support the draft Local Plan including, but not limited to the SA/ SEA, Viability Study and Transport Assessment.

That the Leader and Deputy Leader keep Group Leaders informed through Group Leaders meetings.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(ix)        That the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader be delegate authority to approve a consultation strategy and associated material for the purposes of a city wide consultation starting in September 2017 and to undertake consultation on a composite plan in accordance with that agreed strategy.

That the Leader and Deputy Leader keep Group Leaders informed through Group Leaders meetings.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.

(x)          That the Assistant Director of Planning and Public Protection in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader be delegate authority to approve a revised Local Development Scheme as per the timetable highlighted in paragraphs 98 to 101 of the report.

That the Leader and Deputy Leader keep Group Leaders informed through Group Leaders meetings.

Reason: So that an NPPF compliant Local Plan can be progressed.