Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bailey, Hawkins, Hicks and Maud.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 18 July 2011.

The minutes of an Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 18 July 2011 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of an Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 18 July 2011 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive notice of any urgent business which the Chairman considers should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business which the Chairman considered should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Members to indicate whether they will be declaring any interests under the Code of Conduct.

Members making a declaration of interest at a meeting of a Committee or Council are required to disclose the existence and nature of that interest.  This requirement is not discharged by merely declaring a personal interest without further explanation.

Councillor Andrews declared a personal interest in Item 10 as a member of the team who had worked on the Malton & Norton Neighbourhood Plan.

To Receive any announcements from the Chairman and/or the Head of Paid Service.

The Head of Paid Service announced that an Extra-Ordinary Meeting of Full Council would be held on 7 October 2011 to debate the proposed improvements to the A64 at Brambling Fields.

From Councillor Clark:

To the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny:

“What are his views on the relationship between RDC decision making processes and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee?”

Councillor Clark submitted the following question:

To the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny.

“What are his views on the relationship between RDC decision making processes and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee?”

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Wainwright replied:

“That he had nothing to add to his response to a similar question asked at the meeting of the Council held on 18 July 2011”.

Councillor Clark asked the following supplementary question:

“Does the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agree that it was not right that only a few Members decided to change the start time of the Overview and Scruntiny Committee?”

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Wainwright replied:

“That it was not planned to review the start time of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at that time”.

Councillor Knaggs, Leader of the Council, advised that no Leader’s Statement would be presented to this meeting of the Council.

The Head of Planning presented a report (previously circulated) which outlined the implications of the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for the Ryedale Plan and presented options for how the District Council could proceed with the plan-making process. The draft NPPF had been released for consultation and a proposed RDC response to the document was included in the report.

Members then separately considered and debated both parts of the officer recommendation contained in paragraph 2.1 of the report.

It was the Council’s intention to progress the production of the Core Strategy followed by a Site Allocation document in due course. Policies in the Core Strategy had been prepared in line with this approach and made reference to the Site Allocation document which would provide greater clarity around the location, deliverability, viability and types of sites that would be needed to address development requirements.

On balance, it was considered that not progressing the Core Strategy represented a greater risk. Pursuing its adoption was critical to meet the Government’s ambitions for growth, to address local development requirements and to establish certainty over strategic issues which would, in turn, provide a framework to support neighbourhood planning. The approach enabled a greater engagement of local people and neighbourhoods in the site allocations stage of plan making without the complexities of agreeing strategic objectives and policies.

For the most part, it was considered that textual amendments to the Core Strategy could be used to signal the Council’s intent as regards Neighbourhood Planning. This would be achieved through:

·      Amendments to the text at the beginning of the document to explain the relationship of the Ryedale Plan with Neighbourhood Planning

·      Clarification the nature of the Ryedale Plan policies as being strategic policies

·      References to Neighbourhood Plans as a key means of delivery of Ryedale Plan policies in the implementation tables accompanying each strategic policy.

·      Reference to matters which neighbourhoods may wish to address locally in the implementation tables, where appropriate

·      Removing/ amending references to specific local issues which could be considered within the remit of neighbourhoods to determine

It was considered that the proposed procedural changes had limited implications for the production of the Ryedale Plan. In order to demonstrate that cross boundary considerations had been addressed, a mechanism could be that the North Yorkshire Spatial Planning Board considered and agreed that cross-boundary issues had been taken into account in the preparation of the Ryedale Plan. In advance of this an officer level meeting of neighbouring authorities had been convened for mid September to consider and discuss how the duty to collaborate would work in practice in an on-going way in the sub region.

It was considered that it was in relation to planning for housing that the draft NPPF has the most significant implications for the emerging Ryedale Plan. In light of the NPPF, Members would need to plan for an increase in the delivery of housing, not least to ensure that the Ryedale Plan made provision for an additional 20% of housing land supply  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To appoint to the following vacant places on outside bodies:

Ryedale Voluntary Action – Northern – one place (following the resignation of Cllr Mrs Frank as the Council’s representative)

Councillor Mrs Cowling, seconded by Councillor Cussons, nominated Councillor Mrs Knaggs to represent the Council at Ryedale Voluntary Action - Northern.

Resolved

1.    Councillor Mrs Knaggs to represent the Council at Ryedale Voluntary Action - Northern.

There were no items of urgent business.

The meeting closed at 9.10 p.m.