Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Joy Andrews

Councillor Alyson Baker

Councillor John Cattanach

Councillor Felicity Cunliffe-Lister (substitute: Councillor Hannah Gostlow)

Councillor John Mann

Councillor Bob Packham (substitute: Councillor Steve Shaw-Wright)

Resolved 

That the Minutes of the meetings held on 16 January 2024 and 17 January 2025, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to St John Harris of Democratic Services and supplied the text (stjohn.harris@northyorks.gov.uk) by midday on Monday, 1 September three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

• at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);
• when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no public questions.

Considered a report of the Corporate Director of Community Development seeking the adoption of the New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document accompanied by a presentation by Natasha Durham, Delivery and Infrastructure Manager and Kate Exley, Planning Policy and Place Officer.

Members were advised that:

• the DPD had been progressed to implement Policy DM4 of the adopted Harrogate District Local Plan which identified land in the Green Hammerton / Cattal area as a broad area for growth during the plan period and beyond. Policy DM4 also established the principle for a new settlement there in addition to a broad amount of housing, employment and other development as well as setting out other requirements such as the relocation of an existing horticultural nursery business as appropriate. The resulting DPD set a clear and ambitious thirty-year vision for Maltkiln and a policy framework to guide how it would be developed.

• The policies and proposals in the DPD aimed to create a mixed-use settlement, where people had access to homes, a range of employment types, local services and facilities, public transport and open spaces. This mix of uses was focused around the Cattal rail station and the new local centre enabling the residents to benefit from key walking, cycling and public transport corridors. Maltkiln would deliver as a minimum 3,000 homes and 5ha of employment land, plus additional employment opportunities within the local centre alongside supporting home working and flexible working, including the provision of flexible coworking space within the local centre.

• This vision, in addition to the various stages of plan preparation, consultation and examination, had shaped its overarching objectives and policy framework, which would guide how Maltkiln would be developed. The DPD, once adopted, would form part of the Development Plan for North Yorkshire and would be used in the determination of planning applications in the DPD area. Adoption of the DPD would ensure that Maltkiln was developed in a comprehensive manner, ensuring that appropriate infrastructure was provided and that the vision for a zero carbon settlement was realised.

• Preparation of the DPD had gone through several stages of development and modification before it was submitted to the Secretary of State in March 2024, as was established and approved by Full Council at the submission stage of decision making.

• Since then, the most recent and final stage of plan preparation had been the independent Examination, where the Secretary of State appointed an independent Planning Inspector to assess whether the plan had been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and if it was sound.

• A key stage of examination included an Examination in Public at the Harrogate Civic Centre, conducted by the appointed Planning Inspector between 17 – 20 September 2024. Interested parties / members of the public were informed of the Inspector’s Matters, Issues and Questions (MIQs) to be discussed at the hearings and were invited to submit statements and speak in relation to the MIQs.

• At the request of the Inspector, the Council provided a schedule of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

With the permission of the Chair, Councillor Andy Brown addressed the meeting voicing his concern that the committee should meet more often to consider the emerging the Local Plan, and citing the example of the recent Issues and Options public consultation which he felt was flawed and could have benefitted from the input of the committee.