Agenda and minutes

In the absence of Councillor N Taggart, a nomination was sought for Chair of the meeting.

RESOLVED – That Councillor P Gruen chair the meeting.

EThere were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors K Mitchell and N Taggart.

Councillor M Ingham was in attendance as substitute.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on 11 December 2013

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on 11 December 2013 be approved.

To receive and consider the attached report of the Director of City Development

The report of the Director of City Development updated Members on progress on the Core Strategy, in particular recent correspondence from the Core Strategy Inspector.

The report set out the main modifications to the plan.  Responses had been overall positive and the modifications did not essentially involve changes but gave more clarity to wording.  Members’ attention was brought to the following issues:

·  Outstanding issues relating to affordable housing and gypsy/traveller provision. These had been deferred until May to allow further consultation and further reports had been submitted to Executive Board.

·  Key components of the plan that had been supported by the Inspector were highlighted.

·  There had been one significant change to the plan regarding the housing requirement.

In response to Members comments and questions, the following was discussed:

·  Changes to the Core Strategy would be published on the Council website.

·  There would not be a comprehensive greenbelt review.

·  There had been a shortfall of 4,650 new dwellings since 2012.  It had been requested that this be made up over the full term of the plan but it had been advised that this should be done within 5 years.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the report be noted

(2)  That actions outlined in the report be agreed.

To receive and consider the attached report of the Director City Development

The report of the Director of City Development presented this year’s Authority Monitoring Report (AMR) of the Local Development Framework (LDF).  As with previous Annual Monitoring Reports, a series of core areas have been monitored and a summary of the LDF progress was provided.  The 2013 AMR was appended to the report and in main related to the period April 2012 to March 2013.  Where appropriate, and available, more recent information had been provided.

Issues highlighted from the report and AMR included the following:

·  Growth in the city including the opening of Trinity Leeds and the Arena.

·  There had been approximately 5,000 more car journeys into the city with an increase of 10,000 journeys overall.

·  Housing – the overall development of new housing had been poor but there were signs of recovery and the total of new houses was the highest since 2008/09.  There needed to be an improvement in the provision of affordable housing.

·  Employment – There had been signs of recovery in the office market.  Reference was made to the review of employment land.

·  Retail and leisure – growth had been slow due to the economy and the increase in internet shopping and use of click and collect services.

It was also reported that housing/land supply was a major part of the AMR and would be reported to Development Plan Panel at a later date.

In response to Members comments and questions, the following was discussed:

·  Infrastructure concerns in relation to education, transport, health and play and the impact of the Community Infrastructure Levy.

·  Capacity of road networks and access to new developments.

·  Concern regarding the time taken for new developments to be completed with some running over double the proposed time.

·  Facilities for older people and those who don’t use new technology for things such as shopping and banking.

·  Employment – strength in manufacturing and financial sectors.

·  Climate emissions – further information was suggested regarding fluctuations.

·  Disappointment regarding the level of affordable housing provided and the need to be more robust regarding viability claims of developers.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Tuesday, 8 April 2014 at 1.30 p.m.