Agenda item

Site Allocations Plan Update: Main Modifications Consultation

To consider the report of the Director of City Development which seeks approval to a 6 week consultation period in respect of Inspectors’ recommended potential Main Modifications to the Site Allocations Plan.

 

(Cover Report and Appendices 1 & 2 attached. Appendix 3 to follow)

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 115, 13th December 2017, the Director of City Development submitted a report which provided an update on the current position regarding Leeds’ Site Allocations Plan (SAP), presented details of the Inspectors’ recommended potential Main Modifications to the SAP and which sought approval to a 6 week consultation period in respect of those Main Modifications.

 

Prior to the meeting, Board Members had received for their consideration, supplementary information in the form of:

·  Appendix 3 to the submitted report, which was the Sustainability Appraisal document of the Inspectors’ recommended potential Main Modifications;

·  An updated version of ‘Table 1’, as detailed within Appendix 2 to the submitted report;

  • A proposed additional recommendation for inclusion into the covering report; and
  • Corrections to figures within the submitted covering report, as follows:

 

Page 2 of the covering report: para 4, line 11 (change 3,970 to 4,070)

Page 6 of the covering report: para 3.1, bullet 6 (change 36 to 34 and change 792 homes to 1,850 homes and change 1,090 homes to 2,314 homes)

Page 9 of the covering report: para 3.23, MX2-39 amend 792 to 1,850 and amend the total from 825 to 1,883

Page 10 of the covering report: para 3.33, HG2-124 amend 1,090 to 2,314 and amend total from 1,296 to 2,519.

 

In presenting the submitted report, the Executive Member provided an update regarding the SAPs current position, the key aspects of the Inspector’s Main Modifications and he also extended his thanks to all who had been involved in progressing the SAP to this advanced stage. Members then briefly discussed the nature and extent of the Inspectors’ recommended Main Modifications to the SAP.

 

In considering the submitted report, Members noted that the matter had been considered by Development Plan Panel on 10th January 2019, which had recommended that Executive Board approve that the Inspectors’ recommended schedule of Main Modifications were subject to a 6 week public consultation period.

 

Members noted that, subject to the Board approving the consultation process, the period of public consultation would run from 21st January to 4th March 2019. Responding to an enquiry, the Board also received further information on the next steps of the SAP approval process, with it being noted that following the consultation exercise, the Inspectors’ Final Report together with the SAP recommended by the Inspector for adoption, was to be submitted to Executive Board and then to full Council, with it currently proposed for the SAP to be submitted to Council for the purposes of formal adoption in approximately June / July 2019. 

 

In highlighting the importance for the SAP to continue to be progressed without delay and in acknowledging the key benefits of having a SAP adopted, it was noted that the scheduling of additional meetings of Executive Board and Council may be considered to facilitate its adoption, if required.

 

In reiterating the importance of the SAP continuing to be progressed without delay, Members also emphasised the separate but key role played by the Core Strategy Selective Review (CSSR), and the relationship that this has to the SAP, with the benefits of a robust position in terms of housing land supply being highlighted.

 

Also in relation to timescales, responding to a Member’s comments on the reference within the submitted Appendix 2 regarding a review of the SAP to be commenced following the adoption of the CSSR and to be submitted no later than 31st December 2021, officers undertook that, subject to the outcome of the CSSR and any other factors which could potentially affect the process, every effort would be made for that review to be undertaken and submitted to the Secretary of State at the earliest opportunity, and in advance of 31st December 2021, with Members agreeing that at the appropriate time, a cross-party discussion be held with the aim of agreeing an indicative timeframe regarding the future review of the SAP.

 

Members also noted the national discussion, via the Local Government Association, regarding the factors affecting the efficient development of sites where planning permission had already been granted, with Members highlighting the need to keep pursuing this agenda, as appropriate.

 

RESOLVED – That having considered and noted the submitted cover report and Appendices 1-3, which included corrections to several figures within the covering report (as detailed above); the addition of a recommendation to the covering report (as referenced in resolution (b) below); Appendix 3 (Sustainability Appraisal of the Inspectors’ Main Modifications) and an updated ‘Table 1’ within Appendix 2:-

 

(a)  Approval be given for the Schedule of the Inspectors’ Main Modifications (as attached as Appendix 2 to the submitted report) and the Sustainability Appraisal of the Main Modifications (as attached as Appendix 3 to the submitted report), to be the subject of a 6 week period of public consultation; and

 

(b)  For the purposes of accuracy, delegation be granted to the Chief Planning Officer, in consultation with the Executive Member for ‘Regeneration, Transport and Planning’ and with the agreement of the Planning Inspectors, to make any factual and other minor changes to the Main Modifications prior to consultation.

 

(The matters referred to within this minute, given that they were decisions being made in accordance with the Budget & 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)

Supporting documents: