Leeds City Council declared a ‘climate emergency’ in 2019 and is now consulting on new planning policies to help bring about ‘Net Zero’ by 2030 across the City. Important updates are being proposed to the 2019 Core Strategy section of the Leeds Local Plan; these are they key planning policies that determine development in our area.

A public consultation started on these policies on 24th October, and runs until 19th December – an eight week consultation to help the public understand what policies changes are being proposed and to make informed comment.

This consultation is important. The results of the public view on the soundness and legality of the new proposed policies will govern the ‘what, how and where’ of local development from 2022 – 2040. After the consultation Leeds City Council will make any necessary changes before sending it off to Secretary of State so that they can be considered by the Planning Inspectorate in a public hearing, and subsequently adopted. It was the policies in the Core Strategy that led to the more detailed Site Allocation Plan that the Aireborough Neighbourhood Development Forum had to challenge through an expensive court case regarding the use of Green Belt. The fact that such detailed comment had been made during the consultation process helped win the case.

Policy Changes

The new Core Strategy proposals include policies in the following areas:

• Carbon Reduction – eg local energy supply and heating
• Flood Risk – eg sustainable urban drainage, flood plains
• Green and Blue Infrastructure – eg biodiversity and food production
• Placemaking – creating 20 min neighbourhoods
• Infrastructure – eg mass transit and high speed internet

There is a summary video and document, to outline the key areas of change

How To View The Changes

Because the proposed changes are significant, this consultation includes the following ways to view what is proposed

On-line documentation, including the policies and background documents and evidence base that have been used to justify the course being taken. There is a pdf version of the policies and updates here which is easier to mark up thoughts as you read.

Public Drop-In Sessions around the City where you can discuss details with LCC staff, starting this week on 9th November – Aireborough’s nearest one is Horsforth Library.

On-Line Events, with start this week on 7th-8th November and need booking

Aireborough Neighbourhood Development Forum

We are currently studying all the changes and will update on the views of ourselves and others over the coming weeks. If you want to sign up for email updates, you can do so in the left hand column of our webpage, follow us on Facebook Aireborough Voice or join our mailing list by sending your email to ANDF Secretary Mrs Elizabeth Kirkpatrick at aireboroughnp@gmail.com.