Key stages of the process are below.
Find out more about the ongoing SAP Remittal independent examination and the Inspector's Report.
Leeds City Council submitted 39 Proposed Main Modifications to the Remitted part of the Leeds Site Allocations to the Secretary of State for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 26 March 2021 for independent examination.
The Inspector has considered all representations, including those made at the examination hearing sessions from 14 to 17 September 2021 and that of hearing session of 18 May 2022 and proposed main modifications to the SAP.
Previous consultation
On behalf of the Inspector, the council invited comments on two rounds of Inspector's main modifications:
The Inspector will take all these representations into account before finally concluding whether the council's proposals are sound and legally compliant and can be recommended for adoption.
SAP Legal Challenge - Relief Judgement
The Site Allocations Plan (SAP) was adopted on 10 July 2019. There was a period of 6 weeks following the date of adoption of a plan for any person aggrieved with the SAP to submit a high court challenge on statutory grounds.
Aireborough Neighbourhood Development Forum submitted a challenge to the Plan on 20 August 2019, which was heard in the High Court in February 2020.
The High Court issued its decision on 8 June 2020 and ordered relief on 7 August 2020. See the judgement below.
The effect of this relief is that all housing sites (including mixed use sites) that, immediately before the adoption of the SAP were in the green belt, (37 sites) will be remitted back to the Secretary of State and the Planning Inspectorate for further examination.
During this remittal process these 37 housing sites will be considered as not adopted and as such will return to the green belt until re-examined. The remainder of the SAP remains adopted and carries full weight. The sites are listed below.
Council's proposed main modifications
This consultation closed on 16 February 2021. Find out more about the Council's proposed main modifications and SAP Remittal Sustainability Appraisal Addendum.
Timeline
The SAP has been through various stages in its preparation:
Issues and Options - June to July 2013
Public consultation on all of the issues and options for the SAP took place from June to July 2013. Over 7,000 comments in objection or support for sites were received during this time.
See the
Issues and options page to view the consultation documents, comments received and the consultation report.
SAP Publication Draft Consultation - September to November 2015
The SAP Publication Draft was subject to formal public consultation for eight weeks from September until 16 November 2015.
See the
Publication Draft Plan page for the draft plan, background documents and proposed sites, responses from the consultation and Development Plan Panel reports.
Outer North East revised Publication Draft consultation - September to November 2016
Following the withdrawal of a new settlement proposal at
site MX2-33 Headley Hall by the landowner in September 2015, the council consulted on the revised proposals for the Outer North East Housing Market Characteristic Area (HMCA) between 26th September till 7th November 2016. This consultation was to bring this part of the plan in line with rest of the SAP.
View the consultation and background documents on the
Revised Publication Draft - Outer North East page.
Pre-submission changes advertisement - February to March 2017
As a result of the public consultations on the
Publication draft plan and
Outer North East revised draft plan, a number of changes were proposed in order to address matters of soundness before the SAP was submitted to the secretary of state – these are the pre-submission changes.
The pre-Submission changes were advertised and comments sought from February to March 2017. Find out more and view relevant documents on the
pre-submission changes page.
Submission Draft Plan - May 2017
The initial Submission Draft Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State by the council on 5th May 2017. The Submission Draft Plan includes pre-submission changes made in response to the representations received on the publication of the Plan. The Plan also includes further minor changes, none of which alter the meaning of the Plan.
The Secretary of State appointed Independent Inspectors to examine the Plan for soundness under section 20 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
Find out more and see the relevant submission draft plan documents on the
submission draft plan page.
Revised Submission Draft Plan - March 2018
The council submitted a Revised Submission Draft SAP (the "Revised Plan") to the Secretary of State on 23 March 2018 as part of the
ongoing independent examination.
The Revised Plan includes revised policies relating to:
- housing allocations
- broad locations
- safeguarded land
- phasing and associated explanatory text
All of these were subject to consultation between 15th January 2018 and 26th February 2018.
Proposed main modifications consultation - January to March 2019
The Inspectors of the Leeds Site Allocations Plan identified that there is a need for Main Modifications in order to ensure that the Plan is sound. On behalf of the inspectors, the council carried out a consultation on whether these Main Modifications will rectify any issues of soundness.
This consultation ended at 5pm Monday 4 March.
Find out more about the proposed main modifications consultation and see the consultation documents.
Examination of the Plan - October 2017 to present
See the
Examination page for details including:
- information on the Inspectors and Programmer Officer
- updates on the examination phase, including the revised submission draft plan
After the hearing sessions, the Inspector may suggest further modifications. If so, these will need to be consulted on for a minimum of 6 weeks.
Inspectors' Report
On the 7 June 2019, the council received the Site Allocations Plan Inspectors' Report, which can can viewed on the Inspectors' Report page.
