Agenda item

This report sets out the progress on the Issues and Options stage of the York Northwest Area Action Plan (AAP), outlines the consultation responses received on the Scoping Report for the Sustainability Appraisal for the AAP and suggested alterations arising from the comments made, and seeks Member’s views on the amended document.

Members received a report which set out the progress on the Issues and Options stage of the York Northwest Area Action Plan (AAP), outlined the consultation responses received on the Scoping Report for the Sustainability Appraisal for the AAP and suggested alterations arising from the comments made, and sought their views on the amended document.  The report was supported by an explanatory presentation from officers.

The report presented two options for consideration:

·  Option 1 – To proceed with the revised Scoping Report attached at Appendix 1 of the report;

·  Option 2 – To request amendments were made to Scoping Report.

Appendix 2 of the report set out the comments received during the consultation on the York Central Scoping Report and officer responses to them, and Appendix 3 set out the Local Development Framework’s comments on this report at its meeting on 31 July 2006 and associated officer responses.  Appendix 4 of the report set out the comments received during the consultation on the York Northwest Scoping Report, into which the York Central Scoping Report had been incorporated, and officer responses to them.

A tracked changes version of Appendix 1, which indicated the proposed revisions, had been circulated to Members for consideration.

Officers outlined three additional proposed amendments to the Scoping Report:

·  To paragraph 2.1.2 to delete the words “draft guidance” from the first sentence and amend the date in footnote 2 to “November 2005”;

·  To the wording of the last sentence of paragraph 5.2.36 to read, “Other identified ecological interests could include bats, reptiles, black redstart and invertebrates”;

·  To paragraph 5.2.73 to reflect that the new building for Manor School had received planning permission.

Members thanked officers for their work and proposed a number of further amendments to the Scoping Report (detailed below).

RECOMMENDED:(i) That the comments received in relation to the York Central Scoping Report be noted;

(ii)               That the changes made in relation to the feedback received and detailed in Appendices 2 and 3 be noted;

                        (iii) That the content and responses received on the Scoping Report for the York Northwest Area Action Plan be noted and the suggested changes to this in the revised document be agreed, subject to the inclusion of the three amendments proposed by officers and the following further amendments:

                        (a) To include reference to the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) in the main body of the report;

                        (b) To ensure the inclusion of comprehensive and up to date information regarding income and affluence, ethnicity, housing, age of vehicles and car ownership, and adult education, and to highlight where this information was unavailable;

                        (c) To paragraph 5.2.13 to make reference to successful transport strategies;

                        (d) To paragraph 5.2.16 to make reference to transport infrastructure;

                        (e) To the first bullet point in paragraph 5.2.68 to clarify the reduction in traffic levels;

                        (f) To paragraph 5.2.66 to refer to any relevant findings from the Faber Maunsell study;

                        (g) To paragraph 5.2.91 to correct the location of the British Sugar sports and social club to Plantation Drive;

                        (h) To rephrase the first sentence of paragraph 9.2.2;

                        (i) To present all maps and diagrams on A4 sheets to ensure they are legible;

                        (j) To Figure 11 to include a blank objectives compatibility matrix and to indicate that this will be completed at a later stage;

                        (k) To add indicators relating to local services, local leisure facilities, employment levels for school leavers, overall volume of transport, and tackling existing air quality hotspots and avoiding creating new ones;

                        (l) To amend the description of properties in the section on Council Tax bands;

                        (m) Any further changes resulting from detailed comments on indicators submitted by Members in writing, where baseline information is available.

REASON:(i)-(ii) To ensure the feedback received from all stakeholders was taken into account in the report produced;

                        (iii) To ensure the methodology used to undertake the Sustainability Appraisal is appropriate and relates to the circumstances of York Northwest.