Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room A, Wellington House, Leeds. View directions

Items
No. Item

13.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tim Cheetham, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Councillor Lisa Mulherin, Councillor Andrew Waller, Dilys Jones and Amir Hussain.

14.

Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Minutes:

There were no pecuniary interests declared by members at the meeting.

15.

Exempt Information - Exclusion of the press and public

Minutes:

There were no items on the agenda requiring exclusion of the press and public.

16.

Minutes of the meeting of the Place Panel held on 30 July 2019 pdf icon PDF 54 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2019 be approved.

17.

Feedback from the October Place Panel Workshop session pdf icon PDF 118 KB

Minutes:

The Panel considered a report to provide feedback from the October workshop session and was asked to note the contents of the report

 

The purpose of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for members to consider areas core to the work of the Panel at an early stage in development. 

 

Resolved:  That the contents of the report be noted.

18.

Cultural Framework pdf icon PDF 144 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered a report setting out progress made on the development of the Leeds City Regin Cultural Framework.  This work was born out of a recognition that culture, sport and major events play a unique role in helping to inform and deliver the inclusive growth agenda.  The anticipated outcomes of this work are to:

 

·         Understand the place-based priorities to culture, sport and major events by working closely with the local authorities and sector partners.

·         Create a high-level vision for culture, sport and major events, integrating this as a key consideration in the development of all aspects of the City Region strategic policy framework.

·         Develop the funding frameworks for the City Region and partners to generate place-based funding models which facilitate and maximise investment in the identified priorities.

 

Significant work has been done to date to take this forward in consultation with a range of stakeholders including Welcome to Yorkshire, Leeds University Culture Institute, Arts Council England, NHLF, Historic England and Yorkshire Sport.  A Cultural Framework and Vision document are being prepared to take this forward and Place Panel considered drafts of the documents.

 

Place Panel considered an update on the Combined Authority’s design support programme.  This included key information on the process and findings of the local authority design capacity assessment, the emerging priorities for support and proposals for the future work programme including design advice and training.

 

Resolved:  

 

(i)            That the contents of the report be noted.

 

(ii)          That the ongoing activity of City Region partners who are working together to unlock the full potential of culture, sport and major events to deliver the City Region’s vision be noted.

 

(iii)         That the adoption of the framework and support of structure arrangements be endorsed.

19.

Urban Design Support pdf icon PDF 128 KB

Minutes:

The Panel considered a report to update on the design support programme. This included key information on the progress and findings of the local authority design capacity assessment, the emerging priorities for support and proposals for the future work programme including design advice and training.

 

The Panel noted that the paper was a helpful update and provided a good basis for the discussions about design quality and considered how this work would tie in with the recommendations from the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission’s report which was published on 30 January 2020.  It was noted that the report, and the recent housing design quality audit by the Place Alliance, would be useful in structuring design support and training.  These reports include some useful recommendations including the impact of building at higher densities, tree planting and re-use of existing buildings and sites.

 

It was also noted that training on development viability had emerged as a priority for local authorities.  This will be taken forward and implemented as part of the Urban design Support Programme.

 

Resolved:  That the contents of the report and comments of the Panel be noted.

20.

Enabling Housing Growth pdf icon PDF 124 KB

Minutes:

The Panel considered a report to update on the Enabling Housing Growth project.  The project is funded through a Business Rates Pool allocation of £250k and aims to develop the regional understanding of the strategic sites pipeline, focused on accelerating delivery of housing across the region through unlocking opportunities and tracking barriers.

 

The work to date has identified some common issues across the region including:

 

·         Additional planning and housing growth capacity is required across most districts to tackle stalled sites with planning permissions in place.

·         Lack of viability is a barrier to deliver, particularly in lower value areas and specifically in relation to brownfield sites that have complex technical costly issues to resolve.

·         Further support is required to better understand the individual financial and technical dynamics of sites across the strategic sites pipeline.

·         Resource to bring forward public land is a common issue, particularly in relation to limited capacity for carrying out feasibility work and bid preparation.  The limited availability of external funding to de-risk challenging sites is also an issue.

 

It is proposed that stage 2 of the project will seek to

 

·         Understand, within the existing planning permissions of 85,000, and quantify how many sites are unlikely to move forward without significant intervention.

·         Develop a deeper, more in depth understanding of the technical and financial constraints as well as viability issues across the strategic site pipelines.

 

This work will significantly build intelligence and identify key gaps – providing a robust evidence base for further asks to support delivery.  The Place Panel highlighted that it would be beneficial to use the project to inform future asks in terms of funding to de-risk sites and ensure delivery.

 

 

Resolved: 

 

(i)            That the contents of the report be noted.

 

(ii)          That the Panel provided comments on the progress to date and next steps of the project.

21.

Towns Fund pdf icon PDF 127 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered a report to update on the Towns Fund – a £3.6 million fund which forms part of the Prime Minister’s commitment to `level up’ our regions.  The Towns Fund comes in the context of several other funding announcements including the Future High Streets Fund, High Street Heritage Action Zones and the Cultural Development Fund.  Collectively, these funds add up to substantial investment in the City Regions towns presenting a high opportunity to instigate major transformation and affect wider private investment across the region through strengthening our towns.

 

Following a phase one application process, nine towns across Leeds City Region have been selected to develop proposals.  They are Goldthorpe (Barnsley Council), Keighley and Shipley (Bradford Council), Todmorden and Brighouse (Calderdale Council), Dewsbury (Kirklees Council), Morley (Leeds City Council, Castleford and Wakefield (Wakefield Council).

 

Currently, the local authorities involved are developing up proposals individually, in consultation with MHCLG.  The Combined Authority has offered support to Local Authorities in the development of Town Deal proposals and is currently discussing this in more detail with Directors of Development, focusing on areas the Combined Authority can add strategic value to districts.

 

Resolved:  That the contents of the report be noted.

22.

Tackling the Climate Emergency pdf icon PDF 261 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered a report to provide an update on the Combined Authority’s work to tackle the climate emergency in pursuit of the Leeds City Region becoming net-zero carbon.

 

The Combined Authority approved the Leeds City Region Energy Strategy and Delivery Plan (ESDP) in December 2018.  This work was led by the Green Economy Panel of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).  It aims to dramatically reduce the City Region’s carbon emissions It  prioritises 5 key areas that the Combined Authority, LEP and partners will work towards.

 

Resolved:

 

(i)            That the contents of the report be noted.

 

(ii)          That comments on the information provided and areas identified where they would like to get more involved in tackling the climate emergency be noted.