First results of the Leeds Planning consultation exercise are triumph of democracy – but the dialogue in Leeds NW must go on.

This has been a momentous year in Leeds North West.
It saw the publication of the Leeds 15-year Site Allocations plan.

That plan was the first stage of the Council’s response to the LibDem/Tory Government’s new planning framework.
The Coalition demanded that a local plan be drawn up in double quick time. It also asked landowners to offer sites they owned for housing – all of which have had to be included in the exercise, however unsuitable. And developers have been basking in the climate created by the NPPF, on which they’ve been busy capitalizing – not least here in Leeds NW.

The good news in all this, however, was the Council’s consultation exercise, which took place from 3 June to 29 July.
It proved to be a process which really engaged local residents.
This week Leeds City Council has released first details of the results of that process.
A…