Aim

Our Spatial Planning and Strategic Sites Team develops and supports the delivery of spatial strategies that collectively reflect our shared ambition to tackle the climate emergency, achieve inclusive growth and well-designed places, while supporting delivery of this growth through investment and acceleration across an active portfolio of strategic sites.

What success will look like

Economic, environmental and social priorities are positively addressed in all spatial strategies to support ambitions to tackle the climate emergency, achieve inclusive growth and quality place-making, and that policy implications / alignments are considered across administrative boundaries.

Understanding greater-than-local trends that drive change (such as housing and commercial property markets) and identifying and resolving issues across boundaries.

Cooperation on cross boundary matters including consideration of infrastructure needs and inter-relationships between infrastructure types. This applies particularly to transport infrastructure, digital, flood, utilities and minerals and waste.

Maintaining an up to date Statement of Common Ground detailing matters on which all parties agree relating to strategic planning matters and Local Plans passing the legal test in meeting the Duty to Cooperate.

Delivery of well-designed commercial and residential developments within Spatial Priority Areas (SPAs) and sites included in strategic pipelines.

Site-specific mitigation of the impact of development achieved in an efficient and coordinated way through planning obligations (relating to transport matters).

Strengths

Good progress made on development of Local Plans
Positive cross-boundary cooperation and long history of joint-working on planning matters
Successful delivery of programmes including the Leeds City Region Enterprize Zone Programme
Commitments to develop further strategic spatial planning policy through the West Yorkshire Devolution Deal

Challenges

Balancing economic, environmental and social priorities in policy development
Ambitious Net Zero carbon target by 2038, in which planning has a key role to play
At an aggregate level, the need to build over 9,000 homes per year across West Yorkshire to meet annual housing needs is a challenging ambition
Viability issues in some parts of our city region preventing delivery of developments
Significant, catchment-wide flood risk issues

Policies and strategies

Governance and policy

Leeds City Region Infrastructure Map (under review)
Leeds City Region Statement of Common Ground (2020) (under review)
West Yorkshire Developer Advice Note (March 2021)
West Yorkshire Infrastructure Plan (under development)
West Yorkshire Local Area Energy Plans (LAEP) (under development)

Research

Leeds City Region Strategic Employment Evidence – Land and Property (February 2021)
West Yorkshire Housing Delivery Monitoring Report 2023/24 (December 2024)
West Yorkshire Local Aggregate Assessment – 2023 Data (December 2024)