Launch of housing vision for a city ‘at the crossroads’

Senior members of the authority’s cabinet have approved initial proposals for the 15-year planning vision to pave the way for the public consultation on the draft Local Plan. The document is expected to eventually be adopted in 2015, when it will become the first city-wide development blueprint for York in more than half a century.

The council’s leader, Coun James Alexander, has claimed the eight-week consultation, which will begin later this month on a date yet to be finalised, is among the most important exercises to be undertaken in York as it will help shape plans to build more than 20,000 homes and bring thousands of new jobs to the city.

He said: “The two biggest challenges facing York are a critical need for more housing and the problems with the transport infrastructure. We need to do all we can to bring down the cost of living, but to do that we need to bring investment and more homes to York.

“This is a crossroads for the city, and we need to decide whether we are going to have economic growth or whether we want a city in decline. I for one believe that there is no real choice, but to ensure that we can bring prosperity for future generations and ensure that people can continue to live in the city where they were born and have grown up, we need to have the Local Plan in place.”

The draft Local Plan has been drawn up after an initial city-wide planning brief was abandoned in May last year following concerns over its viability which were raised by a Government planning inspector.

The Yorkshire Post revealed in February that York’s taxpayers were having to pay £650,000 for the revised plan while the Labour-run council attempted to slash £20m from its budgets to counter the Government’s funding cuts over the next two years.

The council has stressed that linking housing and employment growth is a critical element of the new plan and a target has been set to build 1,090 homes per year to help accommodate an increase in the city’s population of 40,000 over the next 15 years. A total of 20 sites have been identified for economic development which could bring as many as 16,000 new jobs.

After the eight-week consultation has finished, a further public engagement exercise will be held early next year once any changes have been made and a final version will be sent to the Government for approval in late 2014. If it is given the go-ahead, the Local Plan will be put in place in 2015, making it the first city-wide development brief to be adopted since 1956.