Agenda and minutes

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.

There were no exempt items.

There were no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

Members did not declare any interests at the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J Akhtar, Councillor R Finnigan and Councillor A Carter, with Councillor A Lamb substituting for Councillor A Carter.

RESOLVED- That the minutes of the Development Plan Panel meeting held on the 26^th of September 2023, be approved as an accurate record.

The report of the Chief Planning Officer provides Members of Development Plan Panel with an interim update on initial analysis of consultation comments received on the ‘Local Plan Update – Your Neighbourhood, Your City, Your Planet’, following the close of consultation on Pre-Submission Changes which closed on the 11^th December 2023. 

The report of the Chief Planning Officer provided Members of Development Plan Panel with an interim update on initial analysis of consultation comments received on the ‘Local Plan Update – Your Neighbourhood, Your City, Your Planet’, following the close of consultation on Pre-Submission Changes which closed on the 11^th of December 2023.

The Group Manager for Policy and Plans presented the report, providing Members with the following information:

·  The report covered two key areas which were, an interim assessment of the pre-submission changes to the Local Plan Update – Your Neighbourhood, Your City, Your Planet’ (LPU) following the closure of the consultation and an update regarding the impact of a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS), which was published by Government on the 13^th of December 2023, had on the suite of policies.

·  The 2023 WMS sought to clarify uncertainty that had arose from a previous WMS in 2015 which had appeared to be superseded but had not been formally revoked by Government.

·  The 2023 WMS was to formally replace the 2015 WMS in terms of energy efficiency standards and intended to set out to Local Authorities that they should not seek to adopt planning policy which went beyond existing building regulations.

·  On the same day of the publication of the WMS, a consultation for the Future Home Standards (FHS) had opened, with a response to be completed by the Leeds planning authority before its closure on the 6^th of March 2024.

·  It was thought the FHS did not include a model for increased material energy efficiency standard over existing building regulations and the approach was for new buildings to be net zero ready, to be connected to the grid as it became decarbonized, with an emphasis on electric technology.

·  The FHS was an emerging standard, referred to in the WMS but was not yet adopted policy.

·  The effect that the WMS had on LPU, detailed from paragraph 3 of the report, was outlined as ensuring development and housing was still viable and deliverable and how polices that go further than building regulations were to be expressed and justified, as a percentage improvement over a target emissions rate.

·  Draft policy EN1B had not been expressed in a manner that would satisfy the conditions raised in the WMS and Energy Use Intensity targets (EUI), which focused on reduction in carbon and energy costs, were not applicable, as part of the FHS, in terms of building fabric. To comply with the WMS, some policies were required to be re-written.

·  Other Local Authorities were in a similar situation. Greater Manchester Council were currently working a Planning Inspectorate to examine and review their proposed policies to adhere to the WMS.

·   There were two broad options available in light of the WMS and FHS consultation which were to maintain the current draft policy position through their examination at significant risk or to pause and review policies in order to comply with emerging standards.

·  As a key test of the Planning Inspectorate’s examination for LPU  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The report of the Chief Planning Officer outlines that on 19 December 2023, the Government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) document.  On 26 October the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) became law.

The report of the Chief Planning Officer outlined that on 19 December 2023, the Government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) document. On 26 October the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) became law.

The Head of Strategic Planning, presented the report, providing Members with the following information:

·  The Government had opened a consultation in December 2022 regarding proposed changes to the NPPF, which received over 26,000 responses. The responses had been taken into account and reflected in the revised NPPF document published in December 2023.

·  Paragraphs 5 to 15 of the report detailed the changes made to the NPPF, which predominantly focused on housing need with flexibility for local housing need, clarification of the standard method with an advisory position and that assessments were subject to examination.

·  The framework gave Local Authorities the ability to review green belt boundaries, but without a requirement to do so, when addressing local housing needs.

·  Design code evidence was required as proof that additional housing was inappropriate in areas with existing high housing density. Housing need targets may not be met for locations that were deemed out of character.

·  The 5 year housing land supply model had been relaxed, not requiring a Local Authority to demonstrate whether there was a 5 year deliverable supply of homes to meet the planned housing requirement in the same way as previous

·  Plans in preparation that were seeking to widen the 5 year housing land supply were no longer to be penalised and were subject to the development of a 4 year supply plan. Clarity on the details of the new requirements were to be requested as it had been a topic of discussion for planning authorities.

·  The 5-10% buffers previously applied to the 5 year housing land supply had been removed but a 20% buffer was required for low scoring authorities in terms of housing delivery.

·  There was increased protection for neighbourhood plans for 2 to 5 years post adoption, with the condition of providing a plan of identified sites.

·  Additional support was offered for self, custom and community built housing projects. The delivery for older people’s housing model was similar to the Leeds Local Plan 2040 (LLP2040) and the ongoing work with the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA).

·  Wording of the NPPF for polices related to beauty and place making had been revised, which was also emphasized in LPU and LLP2040.

·  Extra protection for farmland and food production had been implemented, where food production land was required to be considered as part of the plan making process.

·  Greater support for energy efficiency for existing buildings was included, placing weight on energy needs and improvements.

·  The Secretary of State had also set out ambitions for plan performances for Local Authorities with the intention of creating a league table to rank performance in relation to decision granting, meeting time frames and delivery of targets. In 2022 there were around 20 Local Authorities that were subject to consequences given their poor housing delivery standards. Two Local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

RESOLVED – To note the date and time of the next meeting as the 26^th of March 2024 at 1:30pm.