Agenda and minutes

Councillor Venner welcomed all to the first meeting of the 2016/17 Municipal Year and brief introductions were made.

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded)

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

The agenda contained no exempt information.

No formal late items of business were added to the agenda however supplementary information relating to agenda item 7, Site Allocations Plan was tabled at the meeting in respect of:

-  Appendix 1 – revised information relating to Site Suggestions for the Inner HMCA (pages 208/209 of the agenda)

-  Appendix 2 – additional plans which had been omitted in error from the report relating to Wellington Street Convenience Centre; Woodhouse Lane Local Convenience Centre and City Centre Primary Shopping Area Ground Floor Frontages.

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were made at the meeting however Councillor Coulson reported an other interest in sites 4210 Spring Lea Farm, Troydale and site Ref HG 2 – 76 Hough Side Road, Pudsey as he stated he had been sent new plans and discussed these with officers and ward colleagues prior to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Heselwood. Councillor P Gruen was welcomed to the meeting as her substitute

(Councillor J Procter joined the meeting at this point)

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held 10^th May 2016 as a correct record

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on 10^th May 2016 be approved as a correct record.

To consider the report of the Chief Planning Officer which provides a summary review of the outcome of consultation on the Site Allocations Plan (SAP) Housing Market Characteristic Areas (HMCAs): City Centre, East, Inner, Outer North West, Outer South and Outer West. Based on the outcomes and further technical work undertaken, a relatively limited number of changes are proposed, where issues raised are considered to go to the soundness of the Plan.  The report outlines the scale of the consultation response and the focus of officer time on checking and inputting the representations received (into the database in a consistent manner), analysing the content of representations and undertaking further technical work, where necessary.

Additionally, as part of the review and analysis of representations, a number of factual and technical updates have also been made in relation to HMCA and site information.  This includes updated planning application approvals (up to 5th April 2016), where in some cases proposed new allocations have become “identified” sites i.e. already benefitting from allocation or permission which establishes the principle of development in the context of the Adopted Core Strategy. These are detailed for each HMCA covered in the report. New site submissions are also summarised for each HMCA.

Further to minute 23 of the meeting held 19^th January 2016 and 52 of the meeting held 10th May 2016, the Chief Planning Officer submitted a report presenting a summary review of the outcome of consultation on the Site Allocations Plan (SAP) Housing Market Characteristic Areas (HMCAs): City Centre, East, Inner, Outer North West, Outer South and Outer West.

The report highlighted that based on consultation outcomes and further technical work undertaken; changes were proposed where issues raised were considered to go to the soundness of the Plan. The scale of the consultation response was highlighted with some 9644 responses being received which raised over 45,000 specific points. Each of these had been inputted into the database, checked and analysed with further technical work undertaken where necessary and had been summarised for the purposes of the report. All 45,000 representations would be available to the Planning Inspectorate at the time the Plan was submitted.

Additionally, as part of the review and analysis of representations, the report noted that a number of factual and technical updates had also been made in relation to HMCA and site information. This included updated planning application approvals up to 5th April 2016, where proposed new allocations had become “identified” sites already benefitting from allocation or permission which established the principle of development in the context of the Adopted Core Strategy. These instances were detailed for each of the six HMCA’s covered in the report along with a summary of new site submissions.

The report included the following appendices:

Appendix 1 - representations on each individual site.

Appendix 2 - plans showing changes to boundaries of sites or new sites. 

Appendix 3 - sustainability appraisal of new sites submitted. 

In introducing the report, the Chair noted receipt of emails submitted from members of the public and responded to several of the comments made in respect of the availability of the representations; the length of time the agenda had been available to members and the weight afforded to representations, noting the aim of the consultation being to address the soundness of the Plan.

The Head of Strategic Planning introduced the report, and reiterated the focus of the consultation including whether the Plan was positively prepared, effective, justified and consistent with national policy. Matters arising through the consultation relating to heritage, flood risk and ecology would be addressed through the HMCA process. Members noted that revised flood maps were awaited from the Environment Agency, along with comments on specific sites.

During opening discussions, the following comments were discussed:

·  Infrastructure as a recurring theme in the representations

·  The possible impact of Central Government’s decision not to support the Leeds NGT scheme

·  The possible implications of the Grove Road, Boston Spa appeal decision

·  The possible implications of the December floods and updated information on flooding from the Environment Agency

·  The guidance issued to accompany the consultation

·  The availability of ward Member and public responses to the consultation. The officer response was noted that Appendix 1 summarised the total number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 28^th June 2016 at 1.30 pm

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 28^th June 2016 at 1.30pm.