York’s council leader has said he disagrees with the views of his own parish council after it called for the city’s draft Local Plan to be withdrawn.
Cllr Keith Aspden, who is vice-chair of Fulford Parish Council, has distanced himself from comments made by the parish council’s representative, Micahel Courcier, who repeatedly criticised the Local Plan as it underwent inspection by independent examiners.
In May, Mr Courcier told inspectors the plan was not evidence-based, was “riddled with inconsistencies” and suggested it should be withdrawn.
The Local Plan outlines where and what housing and employment developments will be built in the city over the next 20 years, and what land is classed as green belt.
Labour group leader Cllr Claire Douglas has said that the parish council’s statements were evidence of Cllr Aspden’s “duplicity” on the issue and suggested that he wanted the plan to fail.
After being questioned on his position at full council by Labour’s Cllr Michael Pavlovic, Cllr Aspden said he disagreed with the views put forward on behalf of the parish council.
Cllr Aspden said he was present at some of the parish council meetings where the Local Plan was discussed, but that he either voted against or abstained during votes on the issue.
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He said he had stressed “the absolute citywide importance of getting this Local Plan adopted.”
He added: “To me, the overriding risk if that did not happen is of the government taking over the process and then bringing back a plan that no communities in this city would want.”
The Liberal Democrat said that he understood the “long-held views” of some parish councillors on the issue, but that parish councils could reach majority decisions without everyone agreeing, in the same way the city council would.
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Earlier in the meeting, he told councillors: “This is the furthest stage by far that our Local Plan has got to in sixty years and what that would give is huge certainty in terms of growth and housing supply but also commercial opportunities long into the future.”
Cllr Nigel Ayre said earlier this year that the city is in the “last chance saloon” if it wants to adopt a Local Plan that is decided by local councillors and not the government.
The Local Plan is currently in stage three of the examination phase, with phase four set to take place in September.
Cllr Ayre has said the plan could be adopted as soon as next year if inspectors approve it.