Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Hall, Leeds

Contact: Gerard Watson  (0113) 395 2194

Items
No. Item

18.

Chair's Opening Remarks

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed all in attendance to the meeting, particularly Councillor Parnham who was attending his first meeting as a member of Development Plan Panel.

 

19.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence from the meeting.

 

Minutes:

Apologies for absence from the meeting were received on behalf of Councillors Anderson and Gruen. 

 

20.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 65 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on Tuesday, 4th November 2008.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on 4th November 2008 be approved as a correct record, subject to Minute No. 16 being revised to read as follows:-

 

‘The Panel discussed and questioned the targets relating to housing provision within the document, bearing in mind the current economic situation’.

 

21.

Matters Arising from the Minutes

Minutes:

Leeds’ Local Development Framework Core Strategy – ‘Towards Preferred Options’ – Update Report (Minute No. 15 refers)

Following the Panel’s recommendation to the Executive Member for Development and Regeneration to increase the number of Development Plan Panel representatives on the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) partnership from one to three, Members were advised that the Chair had since been appointed to the partnership as the second representative of the Panel. 

 

Discussions relating to the political composition of the two appointments which had been made to the SHLAA partnership then ensued and it was suggested that the matter of appointing Development Plan Panel representatives to the SHLAA partnership was referred to Group Whips for further consideration.

 

22.

Unitary Development Plan Review 2006 "Saved" Policies Assessment pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To consider the report of the Director of City Development presenting the conclusions and recommendations from an assessment, undertaken in accordance with government advice, of UDP policies introduced or updated as part of the UDP Review 2006.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was submitted by the Director of City Development proposing which of the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) policies introduced or updated as part of the UDP Review in 2006 should be ‘saved’ and which should be ‘deleted’.

 

In considering the report the Panel was invited to recommend to Executive Board for approval and submission to the Secretary of State that 196 of the 198 policies which had been introduced or updated as part of the UDP Review should be ‘saved’ and the remaining 2 should be ‘deleted’.

 

Members noted that the report’s recommendations had been formed following the conclusion of an assessment of the relevant policies which had been undertaken in accordance with government guidance.

 

The Panel then discussed several key issues detailed within the report. The main areas of debate were as follows:-

·  Members noted that there was a requirement for the authority to submit its list of ‘saved’ policies to the Secretary of State by 18th January 2009;

·  The Panel made enquiries into the impact that the relevant policies had in relation to green sites;

·  Members discussed the length of time that the ‘saved’ policies would be automatically ‘saved’ for;

·  Having made enquiries into the two community involvement policies which were proposed to be deleted, the Panel was assured that the deletion of such policies would not create a vacuum in the relevant areas;

·  Members noted that gradually, further UDP policies would be superseded as new LDF policies were adopted.

 

RESOLVED –

(a). That the proposals detailed within the report to ‘save’ and ‘delete’ those Unitary Development Plan policies which have been introduced or updated as part of the 2006 UDP Review be endorsed;

(b). That Executive Board be recommended to approve the proposals detailed within the report to ‘save’ and ‘delete’ those Unitary Development Plan policies which have been introduced or updated as part of the 2006 UDP Review for submission to the Secretary of State.

 

(Councillor Harker arrived at 1.50 p.m. during the consideration of this item)

 

23.

Leeds Local Development Framework: Annual Monitoring Report 2008 pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To consider the report of the Director of City Development presenting the 2008 Local Development Framework (LDF) Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) and recommending that the Panel refers the AMR to Executive Board for approval and submission to the Secretary of State by the 31st December 2008 deadline.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of City Development submitted a report introducing Leeds’ Local Development Framework (LDF) Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) for 2008 which presented the authority’s performance in relation to specific planning policies and summarised the progress made with respect to the Leeds LDF during the period 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008.

 

Members noted that the report also invited the Panel to recommend the 2008 Annual Monitoring Report to Executive Board for approval and submission to the Secretary of State by the 31st December 2008 deadline.

 

Having received a brief introduction to the report, a question and answer session then ensued. The main areas of debate were as follows:-

·  Members made enquiries into the actions being taken to meet the targets which related to the provision of gypsy and traveller pitches in the city and whether such targets were achievable;

·  The Panel discussed the ‘managed targets’ within the report which related to the future provision of additional dwellings across the city, enquired about how such targets had been compiled and whether the targets for future years would be adjusted in order to reflect current economic conditions;

·  Members suggested that the data presented within future AMRs was presented in a consistent format, and wherever possible was accompanied by comparative historical data;

·  The Panel discussed the levels of employment development which had been achieved within the city’s designated regeneration areas during 2007/08 and received further information on the variation of such levels over recent years;

·  Enquiries were made into the extent to which the housing trajectories detailed within the report took the current market conditions into consideration;

·  Further information was received on the methodology used when undertaking Sustainability Appraisals;

·  The Panel made enquiries into the ways in which the targets relating to the development of renewable energy capacity in Leeds would be met;

·  Following Members’ discussions and questions, the Panel received further information on the authority’s year on year performance with regard to the levels of access that residents of new dwellings had to various community facilities. The Panel then highlighted the significance of such data and discussed the possibility of it being more widely circulated in the future;

·  Members received further detail on the timescales and procedures in place with respect to the formal submission of the 2008 Annual Monitoring Report to the Secretary of State.

 

RESOLVED – That Executive Board be recommended to approve Leeds’ Local Development Framework Annual Monitoring Report 2008 for submission to the Secretary of State pursuant to Regulation 48 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004. 

 

24.

Date and time of next meeting

1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 6th January 2009 in the Civic Hall.

 

Minutes:

Tuesday, 6th January 2009 at 1.30 p.m. in the Civic Hall, Leeds.