Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies were received.

The minutes were approved, however Cllr Andrews voted against their approval and Cllr Thackray abstained.

Cllr Goodrick stated that they were a reflection of what was discussed; Cllr Cleary agreed.

Rachael Balmer introduced the report by explaining that Officers were seeking a steer from Members regarding the following policy approaches:

Criteria based policy for small-scale windfall sites

Members broadly agreed with the recommendations as presented in the report, in relation to the use of criteria for small sites across the Ryedale Plan area for up to 5 dwellings.

Treatment of occupancy conditions

Members broadly agreed with the recommendations as presented in the report, and the decision to remove the Local Occupancy Condition as part of the review of the plan was unanimous. However Cllr Andrews did not agree with the non-application of a Primary Residence Condition, stating that to continue without restriction would result in houses being sold to the highest bidder, to the detriment of local people.

Embedding climate change mitigation and adaptation

a)   Consideration of stand-alone renewable and low carbon energy technologies (part 1 of Policy SP18)

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation as presented in the report, which was to continue with the criteria-based approach presented in SP18 currently, and that the Council is unable to identify specific areas for on-shore wind technologies.

b)   Sustainable build standards (part 2 of Policy SP18)

Regarding the recommendation for not setting specific targets for compliance relating to renewable energy usage, Members felt that is could be more strongly worded.

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation regarding water usage.

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation regarding BREEAM standards.

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation regarding the energy hierarchy; however, Cllr Mason pointed out that it should be enforceable, whilst Cllr Thackray suggested that viability statements should be submitted with planning applications, as opposed to ‘sustainability statements,’ as suggested in the recommendation.

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation regarding decentralised renewable/low-carbon energy schemes to feature in allocations.

Members were keen to ensure that Green Infrastructure/SuDs and Biodiversity Net Gain were also considered. Officers advised that they are already within the plan.

Accessibility and space standards

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation as presented in the report, to explore requiring that the current 5% requirement for bungalows on sites of 50 units and over (Policy SP4) be delivered to wheelchair user standard M4(3) which is set out in Building Regulations and an optional technical standard for Local Planning Authorities to apply.

The to-plan-for figure

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation as presented in the report, however Cllr Andrews did not agree, suggesting that the 200 figure should factor in a windfall allowance of 25%, meaning 50 dwellings would be considered as windfall. Officers explained the reasons why, although such an allowance can be made, it gives the plan resilience and helps at Examination if the full plan requirement is delivered through allocations.

The Plan-period – regarding local government reform and the scope of the review

Members broadly agreed with the recommendation as presented in the report which is to explore rolling-on the plan period from 2027 to 2032, to deliver an additional 5 years of land supply. This would be different to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

There was no other business.

Meeting closed 21:16