Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of City Development which provides an update on the current position regarding the Leeds Site Allocations Plan (SAP) and informs the Board of the outcomes from the recently received Inspector’s Report on the Remitted Parts of the SAP. The report also seeks the Board’s agreement to make a number of recommendations to full Council including that Council notes the Inspector’s Report on the Remitted Parts of the SAP, accepts the recommended Main Modifications and adopts the remitted parts of the SAP.

Further to Minute No. 97, 14^th December 2022, the Director of City Development submitted a report which provided an update on the current position regarding the Leeds Site Allocation Plan (SAP) Remittal process and informed the Board of the outcomes from the recently received Inspector’s Report and Main Modifications on the Remitted Parts of the SAP. Specifically, the report sought the Board’s agreement to make a number of recommendations to full Council including that Council notes the Inspector’s Report on the Remitted Parts of the SAP, accepts the recommended Main Modifications and adopts the remitted parts of the SAP.

In considering the submitted report, it was clarified and noted by the Board that the Inspector’s report had been received on 2^nd January 2024 and not the 3^rd January 2024, as referenced within the submitted report.

In introducing the report, the Executive Member for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure provided the Board with an update on the Leeds SAP Remittal process. Specifically, it was highlighted that the Inspector’s report and Main Modifications had recommended that 36 former housing allocations should remain as Green Belt, and that a site at Barrowby Lane, Manston, should be allocated for employment and released from the Green Belt. It was noted that the Inspector considered the remitted part of the SAP to be legally compliant and subject to the adoption of the Inspector’s Main Modifications by full Council, the Inspector considered the SAP to be sound.

The Board discussed the process by which the current position had been reached and the significant timeframe for this process.

A Member welcomed the Inspector’s recommendation that 36 former housing allocations should remain as Green Belt. However, the Member raised a concern regarding the Inspector’s recommendation that a site at Barrowby Lane, Manston, should be allocated for employment and released from the Green Belt, highlighting that in their view the site should also be returned to the Green Belt, a situation which they felt may set a precedent for the future.

A number of Members highlighted how important it was for the Council to have a fully adopted SAP established for the benefit of the planning process in Leeds moving forward.

In conclusion, the Executive Member for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure extended her thanks to all officers involved for the work which had been undertaken to progress the SAP to this advanced stage.

RESOLVED – That Executive Board recommend the following to full Council:-

(a)  That Council notes the Inspector’s Report on the remitted parts of the Site Allocations Plan and accepts the recommended Main Modifications, which are detailed in an appendix to the Inspector’s Report (received on 2nd January 2024), as at Appendix 1 to the submitted report;

(b)  That Council adopts the remitted parts of the Site Allocations Plan, which are contained in the Inspector’s schedule of recommended Main Modifications (Appendix 1 to the submitted report), with effect from 17th January 2024, pursuant to Section 23 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended);

(c)  That Council notes that the fully adopted SAP (as amended 2024) will be as is provided as a Background Document to the submitted cover report; and

(d)  That Council notes that Appendix 2 to the submitted cover reportwill replace Appendix 3 of the Site Allocations Plan, which lists the saved Unitary Development Plan (UDP) policies that will be superseded by the SAP (as amended 2024).

(The matters referred to within this minute, given that they were decisions being made in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules, were not eligible for Call In, as Executive and Decision Making Procedure Rule 5.1.2 states that the power to Call In decisions does not extend to those decisions being made in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules)