Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Hall, Leeds, LS1 1UR

Contact: Helen Gray (0113) 3788657  Email: helen.gray@leeds.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

58.

Appeals against refusal of inspection of documents.

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)

Minutes:

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

 

59.

Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

 

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

 

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

 

  RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

Minutes:

The agenda contained no exempt information.

 

60.

Late Items

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

 

(The special circumstance shall be specified in the minutes).

Minutes:

No formal late items of business were added to the agenda.

 

61.

Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

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

Minutes:

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made.

 

62.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M Coulson, C Gruen, J Procter and K Wakefield. Councillors S McKenna and K Ritchie attended the meeting as substitutes.

 

63.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 55 KB

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting held 10th January 2017 as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED- That the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on 10th January 2017 be approved, subject to the following amendments:

Minute 55 Site Allocations Plan – delete reference to Councillor Anderson withdrawing from the meeting

 

64.

Affordable Housing Benchmarks Update pdf icon PDF 160 KB

To consider the report of the Director of City Development on a proposed update to the Leeds Affordable Housing benchmark prices. The update to the Affordable Housing benchmark methodology is necessary to ensure the benchmarks are properly aligned with Core Strategy Policy H5. The Chief Planning Officer has delegated powers to adopt new benchmarks but seeks the view of Development Plan Panel before proceeding with proposed amendments.

 

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Director of City Development which sought Members’ views on proposals to update Leeds’ Affordable Housing benchmark prices. This matter had previously been withdrawn from the meeting held on 27th September 2016 (minute 34 refers).

 

The report explained that an updated methodology for setting new benchmarks would accord with Policy H5 of the Leeds Core Strategy which had been adopted in 2014 and superseded previous UDP policies. Policy H5 sets the principle that new Affordable Housing in Leeds should be made affordable enough for households on lower decile (social rent) and lower quartile (sub-market/intermediate) earnings. The benchmark figures set the price that housing developers sell affordable dwellings to Registered Providers (RPs).  Using the same income data, benchmarks also set the rent for affordable dwellings within Build-for-Rent developments.

 

The Planning Strategy Team Leader highlighted the key changes as being:

·  A proposed increase to the lower decile benchmark

·  A proposed decrease to the lower quartile benchmark

·  The inclusion of the earnings of part-time workers within the lower decile methodology

Overall however, the changes would not alter the amount paid by Registered Providers for the Affordable Housing element of schemes.

 

The Planning Strategy Team Leader noted that previously, the benchmark figures had been updated annually by the Chief Planning Officer using a methodology devised in the early 2000’s. Given the change in approach following the adoption Core Strategy, it was considered appropriate to obtain the views from Development Plan Panel.

 

The Panel discussed the following matters:

·  Concerns that developers did not want to provide Affordable Housing on site and would rather offer a commuted sum.

·  Anticipation that commuted sum costs would rise as they took into account rental costs which had increased. Construction costs had also increased. Open market values had increased, so the difference between the open market value and the affordable housing value would be included within commuted sum calculations.

·  Whether the 1100 annual target had been met.

·  Whether it was feasible in the circumstances where the authority was asked to set aside its policy requiring affordable housing on site, to charge a premium affordable housing rate, to cover administration costs, to those developers who only offered commuted sums for affordable housing. The Panel received advice from the Chief Legal Officer setting out the circumstances where a commuted sum could be considered and clarifying that there was no provision to uplift that sum. After further discussion, it was agreed that this issue would be further discussed as part of the Selective Review of the Core Strategy

·  Concern that there was little affordable housing in some of Leeds’ outlying towns and villages, which prevented younger people entering the housing market in their own home towns

·  The technical definition of “Affordable Housing” - Government White Paper proposals set the income for  “Starter Homes” as £80,000 or £90,000 in London – was not affordable to normal wage earners when mortgage lending terms offered by a bank or building society are set at 2½ or 3 times salary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

65.

Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Document pdf icon PDF 117 KB

To consider the report of the Director of City Development on a proposed Draft Hot Food Takeaway (HFT) Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and seeking approval to undertake public consultation on the Supplementary Planning Document - which is attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to minute 33 of the meeting held 27th September 2016, the Panel considered a report seeking endorsement for a public consultation to be undertaken on a Draft Hot Food Takeaway (HFT) Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). Following a White Paper Motion to full Council in June 2016 the Panel had considered the issue and resolved that the preparation of a draft SPD could address links between health issues and planning policy. The draft SPD sought to control HFT proposals, particularly from the perspective of improving the health and wellbeing of Leeds’ population. A copy of the draft SPD was attached as Appendix 1 to the report and included site plans showing every secondary school in Leeds, with a 400m boundary from the centre of the school premises.

 

The Planning Assistant (Project Support) explained that the draft SPD had been prepared in consultation with Licensing, Public Health, Environmental and Development Management officers. After the proposed 6 week public consultation; the draft SPD would be revised accordingly and be brought back to DPP before being approved for adoption. The draft SPD would form part of Leeds’ Local Plan and carry weight when future planning applications and H5 applications are determined.

 

Councillor Leadley briefly presented the three key issues for discussion as being:

HFT1 - the proposed guidance to control HFT proximity to schools – where he expressed a preference to extend the 400m boundary extend from the school perimeter rather than the centre of the building

HFT2 - clustering in designated centres – where he promoted discussion in respect of those areas which already saw a proliferation of HFT; whether there was scope to introduce neighbourhood policies with neighbourhood definitions for HFT. In Leeds there are the equivalent of 126 HFT per 100,000 population, which is above the national average, the Panel were asked to consider whether a discretionary measure of a given number of HFT per 100,000 population should be established. He also referred to public health concerns, noting that some communities were more affected by the harm linked to HFT than others.

HFT3 - to address amenity concerns

 

Additionally the Panel was asked to consider whether it would be beneficial to include a caveat for HFT2 in order to allow an A5 use after a certain amount of unit vacancy. Councillor Leadley also referred to previous discussions on the status of drive-thru take aways and suggested this needed further discussion to understand what planning use class these fall within.

 

Members and Officers discussed the following:

HFT1 Drawing a zone of restriction:

-  Members considered whether it would be preferable to implement a 500m “exclusion zone” and noted the response that 400m was the accepted accessibility standard as the anticipated distance covered during a ten minute walk- the aim being to control HFT within a ten minute walk from a secondary school.

-  Whether the zone should be calculated from the centre of the school building, from the perimeter of the school grounds or from every access point (school gates),  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

66.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 11th April 2017 at 1.30 pm

Minutes:

RESOLVED – To note the date and time of the next meeting as 11th April 2017