Agenda item

The report of the Chief Planning Officer provides Members of Development Plan Panel with an update on the ‘Local Plan Update – Your Neighbourhood, Your City, Your Planet’, following an interim update given in January 2024 after the close of consultation on Pre-Submission Changes on the 11th December 2023.  This plan has the objective of supporting the Council’s Best City Ambition Net Zero Pillar through a range of policies including around design, placemaking, flood risk, green and blue infrastructure, biodiversity and net zero carbon buildings.

The report of the Chief Planning Officer provided Members of Development Plan Panel with an update on the ‘Local Plan Update – Your Neighbourhood, Your City, Your Planet’, following an interim update given in January 2024 after the close of consultation on Pre-Submission Changes on the 11^th of December 2023. This plan had the objective of supporting the Council’s Best City Ambition Net Zero Pillar through a range of policies including around design, placemaking, flood risk, green and blue infrastructure, biodiversity and net zero carbon buildings.

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

• As this was the first meeting of the new 2024/25 municipal year, and there were new Members appointed to the Panel, a summary was provided to outline the process for the development of the Local Plan Update (LPU1) and familiarize Members with the context and terminology.
• Members were presented with the documentation that comprised the existing local plan (Unitary Development Plan, Aire Valley Leeds Action Plan, Leeds Core Strategy, Site Allocation Plan and a Natural Resources and Waste Plan), then the plans that were in preparation, which aimed to streamline ease of access and understanding, through the future adoption of LPU1 and Leeds Local Plan 2040 (LLP2040).
• Policies set a vision for the future of development in Leeds, with a focus on brownfield land and Regeneration and key targets for housing and employment were to be reviewed as part of the updated policy suite.
• LPU1 had been devised in line with the Council’s climate emergency declaration of 2019 and associated requirements.
• Officers and the Panel had been working on the new policy suite to address five broad stands – carbon reduction, flood resilience, green and blue infrastructure, placemaking and sustainable infrastructure.
• The five topics had been outlined as part of the regulation 19 consultation and an overview of each was provided as;

o  Carbon reduction aimed for whole lifecycle carbon assessments, carbon neutral developments, ambitious sustainable construction standards, renewable energy generation, heat networks and energy storage.

o  Flood risk polices were to consider functional flood plains, breach modeling, climate impacts, safe routes of access and escape, drainage and making space for water.

o  Green and blue infrastructure set out plans for increased tree planting, enhanced environment protection, green space provision, increased bio-diversity through Bio-diversity Net Gain and local food production.

o  Placemaking emphasized increased quality of design, health impacts, resistance to drive thru takeaways, complete, compacted, connected places and sustainable travel options to local amenities.

o  Sustainable infrastructure included support for mass transit, new rail infrastructure, development of Leeds Train Station and it was noted that previous digital connectivity policies had been superseded by building regulations.

·  The Written Ministerial Statement of 2023 (WMS) was outlined to have impacted the implementation of LPU1, with the notion that new local plans were not to exceed building regulation standards.

·  The target emissions rate, set out in the WMS, was not the proposed energy efficiency model proposed for LPU1, which was to use energy use intensity (EUI) targets to achieve energy efficient homes and reduce domestic costs. It was noted that against the WMS, this model may not be possible.

·  The impact of the WMS on EUI was disappointing as the Council considers EUI as the best approach for emission control, however, as confirmed by the High Court, the WMS was national policy, and local planning policies must therefore have regard to it and would be examined in light of it.

·  Policy Planning Officers had been reviewing the policy suite since the expiry of the consultation exercise in December 2023 and considering responses in respect to the WMS. The draft policies were due for a final round of consultation and further work is being undertaken to better understand viability, prior to further submission of the policies to the Panel.

·  The reports to DPP had been accurate during their development, however, due to changes in national Government, changes to national policy had occurred, such as onshore wind policies. Revisions were expected to respond to further revisions of national policy.

·  If required, a final round of consultation would be conducted before the end of 2024, before LPU1 was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination.

Members discussed the following key matters:

• Whether the WMS was backed by law, and the possibility of the new minister overriding or amending its contents was queried. In response it was noted that the WMS was policy and not law, and thus was not able to change legal statute, however, it was considered consistent with law, but could be revoked or reworded by the newly appointed Minister.
• It was confirmed that the new wind farm policies applied to national planning policy framework (NPPF) and was a major consideration for LPU1

·  The WMS primarily impacted LPU1 proposed policy EN1B as EUI was central to this policy. There was potential for further impact to sustainable construction policies, although less pronounced, could be considered to go beyond building regulations.

·  Members noted the risk posed by the WMS was to the EUI approach, which would have further implications to restricting efficiency and encouragement for reducing carbon reliance which ultimately created barriers for the decarbonisation of the grid.

·  As referenced at the previous Panel meeting, Manchester had submitted their policies, using EUI, to the Planning Inspectorate, where EUI had not been full endorsed but had not been dismissed. The High Court has confirmed that EUI was applicable to already adopted local planning policy but the weight against national policy was lessened. However, it is clear that emerging policies should not rely upon EUI in light of the WMS.

·  In response to a query related to the market response to the WMS, it was outlined that there was not a consistent viewpoint across developers but there was broad support for the direction of LPU1, however, concerns for EUI had been received and the WMS was somewhat in response to the expression of developer concerns. The UK Green Building Council had noted that EUI was the best method for measuring lifetime energy use.

·  In order to provide clarity regarding the new Government’s approach to planning policy it was suggested that either the Chair, on behalf of the Panel or the Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Sustainable Development write to the new Planning Minister. Decisions around emerging planning policy can then be made against forthcoming national plans, particularly related to EUI.

·  The Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Sustainable Development, noted he had discussed plans to write a letter to the new Planning Minister and thought it to be appropriate for both himself and the Chair of Panel to write separately, in order for personal views and wider views of the Panel to be included. His letter was planned to be sent following outcomes from the King’s Speech, scheduled for the 17^th of July 2024.

·  It was agreed that the Panel and The Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Sustainable Development were to write to the Planning Minister and the letter from the Panel would be provided to Members prior to submission.

·  It was suggested that the letter to the Planning Minister should express a keenness to seek clarity on the robustness of policy positions. Officers agreed with this and the suite of polices were considered good quality and were intent on getting the policies adopted in the near future, however, to avoid risk, policies needed to align with national changes in order to carry full weight when adopted.

·  Plans and policies for a different approach for residential development within areas within and nearby the city centre were queried with the hope of encouraging gentle density developments that would assist in addressing housing demand needs, finite land and affordability issues. In response, Officers noted this to be sensible as housing around the city centre put less pressure on services and amenities, however, LPU1 had no specific new policy for density, but LLP2040 had considered this.

RESOLVED – That the report, along with Members comments be noted.