The submission of York’s local plan has passed its final hurdle, after receiving approval from Full Council this evening.
The Local Plan will now progress to be submitted to the Government’s Planning Inspector for consideration at the end of May, along with numerous consultation responses from residents across the City.
With tonight’s approval secured, York has seized the last opportunity to submit its own Local Plan and ultimately, allow residents to determine the future of development in the City. If the Local Plan had been amended or not approved tonight, it would have resulted in intervention from Whitehall bureaucrats.
Labour tried and failed back in 2014/15 to pass a Local Plan because of their proposals to overdevelop the greenbelt. York’s Joint Administration have worked together in the spirit of cooperation to deliver a plan that strikes the right balance for York, by addressing York’s housing and employment needs, including through the regeneration of brownfield sites, whilst simultaneously protecting the Green Belt and York’s unique character.
Councillor Ian Gillies, Conservative Leader of the Council, said:
“I think this is an historic evening for York. We’ve passed a plan that carefully balanced the views of existing residents with the city’s housing and employment needs looking to the future.
“As we said tonight during the debate, the plan is a compromise, but a careful, well-thought out compromise which has relied on the input of thousand of residents over many years of consultations. We’ve listened and we’ve taken on board both the need for more housing in the city and our residents’ intense pride in York’s fantastic heritage.
“The Conservatives campaigned on producing a plan that would respect York’s heritage and its greenbelt whilst addressing the city’s real need for more houses and our joint administration has succeeded in passing just such a plan tonight.”