For a number of years Leeds City Council, has kept the required Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment – a call for land for potential development is made every year, and recorded on the SHLAA map.   In order to find land for their 66,000 housing target in the draft Core Strategy,  Leeds have been assessing sites in the SHLAA for their potential for housing, employment, retail and green space.

Until this week, only local councillors (not parish, or town councillors or neighbourhood forums) have been involved with Leeds planners in the assessment of the SHLAA sites.  The process of assessment has been going on since September 2012,  and has included several discussion with elected representatives and a site visit.   The results of this process went to the Leeds Development Plans Panel in April 2013, who recommended that the LDF Site Allocations Issues and Options Document be put to the Executive Board on the 9th May 2013, as the proposed document for public consultation.

If  the Executive Board approve the recommendation on Thursday,   the  Issues and Options Document will be put out to public consultation at the start of June 2013 for a period of eight weeks.

ANF Response

Obviously,  with a housing target of 2,300 (less current planning permissions not built by April 2012) and a need for suitable employment land to build a vibrant economy, and green space for wellbeing, it is crucial that the Aireborough Neighbourhood Forum responds to the consultation.  We are therefore planning an ANF workshop,  and a  site allocation questionnaire to local people, to get responses.   That does not mean individuals should not respond to Leeds themselves about the site allocations, and we would encourage that.   However,  the ANF needs to look at the overall picture for Aireborough as a whole in the light of the current issues and vision.  There will be quite a lot of work for Forum members to do to turn the information around in eight weeks.

Documents Available To View

Leeds publish their Executive Board documents on their website and you will find the relevant documents on the LDF Site Allocation Issues and Options Document here  Item 6.  Ignore the large 96mg pdf file as it is difficult if not impossible to download.  However, if you scroll down the page you will come to item 6 additional documents.  This has:

• The site allocations report to the Executive Board, explaining what is to be agreed, why and the process.  Worth a read for all the background
• A copy of the proposed consultation document at Volumn 1 document
• Volumn 2 1a Aireborough are the site allocations, classed as green (suitable), amber (potentially suitable)  or red (no suitable).
• Volume 2 1b Aireborough has maps that will make reading easier.