Agenda and minutes

In the absence of Councillor N Taggart, Councillor N Walshaw was elected to chair the meeting.

The Chair welcomed all in attendance to the June meeting of Development Plan Panel.

To declare any personal / prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81(3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declaration of interests made at the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted by Councillors C Campbell, P Gruen, R Harington, K Mitchell and N Taggart. 

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on 3^rd April 2012.

RESOLVED –That the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd April 2012 be approved as a correct record.

To consider a report of the Director of City Development on the latest developments in relation to public consultation on the LDF Core Strategy.

The Director of City Development submitted a report on the latest developments in relation to public consultation on the LDF Core Strategy.

Appended to the report was a  copy of a document entitled ‘Core Strategy Publication draft consultation, list of meetings attended’ for the information/comment of the meeting.

The Chair welcomed the following officers to present the report and to respond to Members’ questions and comments:-

-  David Feeney, Head of Forward Planning and Implementation, City Development

-  Steve Speak, Deputy Chief Planning Officer, City Development

-  Lyla Peter, Data Team, Forward Planning and Implementation, City Development

Detailed discussion ensued on the contents of the report and appendices.

In summary, the key areas of discussion were:-

• the need to acknowledge that the Gypsies and Travellers issue was an important issue and that a positive outcome was required in this area

(The Deputy Chief Planning Officer responded and confirmed that this issue would be addressed)

• clarification of the wording within the National Planning Policy Framework General Policy and the need to remove the words ‘without delay’ in relation to approving planning applications that accord with the policies in this plan

(The Deputy Planning Officer responded that the wording was taken from a model policy issued by the Planning Inspectorate but that in the light of Members’ comments further consideration would be given to the policy wording )

• clarification if there was any further guidance available in relation to environmental conditions attached to the General Policy

(The Head of Forward Planning and Implementation responded and informed the meeting that no further guidance was available at present)

• the need for Panel Members to be supplied with a copy of the detailed representations received to date on the LDF Core Strategy

(The Head of Forward Planning and Implementation agreed to deposit a copy of the document in each of the group offices for Members’ guidance and reference)

• clarification of the breakdown of the 353 representations received and the percentage of responses received from the general public
• the concerns expressed that the LDF process requires that the consultation was aimed at the soundness of the plan as opposed to focusing on the specific detail of the policy which would have been difficult for the public to understand and may account for the limited scale of public response
• the need for any further consultation periods to be kept at a minimum to avoid any further potential problems developing
• clarification of the latest developments around windfall

RESOLVED-

a)  That the contents of the report and appendices be noted.

b)  That this Panel notes that further work was needed to analyse responses which would be presented to subsequent meetings over the summer period.

Monday, 2nd July 2012 at 1.30pm in the Civic Hall, Leeds.

Monday 2^nd July 2012 at 1.30pm in the Civic Hall, Leeds.

(The meeting concluded at 2.45pm.)