WITHOUT WALLS PARTNERSHIP
Minutes
DATE
23 November 2009
VENUE
York College, Sim Balk Lane
PRESENT
Board Members:
In attendance:
Secretariat:
Sir Ron Cooke - Chair
Pete Dwyer – Director, Learning, Culture and Children CYC
Kersten England, Chief Executive - City of York Council
Steve Guest, External Relations Manager – Jobcentre Plus
Nigel Hutchinson- Chief Fire Officer, North Yorks Fire & Rescue
Rachel Johns – Chair, Healthy City Board
Peter Kay – Chair, Economic Development Partnership
Grahame Maxwell – Chief Constable, North Yorks. Police
Janice Murray – Chair, York@Large
Fred Ring – York Racial Equality Network
Rita Sanderson – Inclusive York Forum Representative
Cllr. David Scott – City of York Council
Mike Slater, Chair York Environment Partnership
Colin Stroud, Chief Executive – York Council for Vol. Service
Cllr. Andrew Waller– City of York Council
Lisa Winward - Safer Neighbourhood Commander
Dave Caulfield, Head of City Development
John Oxley, Archaeologist CYC
Ian Stokes, Principal Transport Planner (Strategy)
Nigel Burchell, Head of Strategic Partnerships
Roger Ranson, Asst. Director, Econ Devt. & Partnerships
Denise Simms, Senior Partnership Development Officer
APOLOGIES: Jayne Brown, Chief Executive – NHS North Yorkshire and York
Brian Cantor, Vice Chancellor - University of York
Cllr. Ian Gillies – City of York Council
Sue Metcalfe – Chair, YorOK
Gary Williamson – Chief Executive, LYNYCC
1
WELCOME AND APOLOGIES
Partners welcomed new members Nigel Hutchinson, Kersten England, Grahame Maxwell and
Fred Ring. They also thanked outgoing member, Liz Burdett for the contribution she had
made to the work of the Partnership and they wished her well for the future. Apologies were
received from Jayne Brown, Brian Cantor, Ian Gillies and Gary Williamson.
2
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
Minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2009 were agreed, subject to amendment of the
following comment made regarding agenda item 5 on the core strategy preferred options:
“Windfalls had been included because the plan was for longer than fifteen years and they had
only been applied for the last five years of the plan” This was amended to “Assurances about
the inclusion of windfall sites should be made, if not the LDF may be put at risk”.
MATTERS ARISING
Your City Communication – Kersten England informed Partners about the council’s new
newspaper, which would be produced six times per year, called ‘Your City’. The offer was
made to Partners to make this a shared communication and to capitalise on its distribution to
90k households in the city.
Action – It was agreed that the possibility of Partner input to the Your City publication would
be discussed further at the next Executive Delivery Board on 9 December.
Without Walls Annual Conference – It was reported that the Without Walls Conference, which
took place on 24 September, had been a success and actions agreed on the day were being
taken forward through the partnership delivery plan.
Governance Handbook – Partners were presented with an updated Governance handbook
for Without Walls, given recent amendments to the purpose and constitution of the
partnership.
Action – All amendments to the Without Walls Governance Handbook were agreed.
Forward Meeting Programme – Partners considered the draft forward meeting programme for
2010, including dates for the annual conference and meetings in July and November. The
need to keep up to date with partnership progress was stressed and Partners were asked to
consider when they would want to update others on progress. Comments in response to this
request included:

There would be clarity on the future shape of the council by February, following the
organisational review of management structures, which could be reported back;

This could be linked in with a report from North Yorkshire Police on the significant
changes to policing structures in York that had taken place recently and also the
new measure of confidence;

Following LSC restructure, post 16 commissioning responsibilities had transferred to
CYC and therefore a discussion with Partners on ambition, skills and
apprenticeships would be welcomed;

The Inclusive York Forum would welcome the opportunity to update Partners on
progress and also to include a report on the LAA funded project ‘Better Together for
York’ and the York Compact Community;

The York Environment Partnership had recently set up four sub-groups, including
one on climate change. They would like to briefly update Partners on the framework
and draft action plans in February, and to have a longer slot at the meeting in May
to finalise the framework and action plan and to run through next steps.
Action – The secretariat would programme partner suggestions for future agenda items in to
the forward plan of meetings for 2010.
Without Walls LDF Advisory Group – Partners were asked to comment on the suggestion to
establish an LDF advisory group, including draft terms of reference. The LDF was a vital
element in the city’s strategy and consequently a working group to look at LDF issues in more
detail had been suggested.
The approach would involve a small group of WOW
representatives who would comment on behalf of the partnership as advisors and to feed this
back to the main group. Partners views on the approach and constitution included:

It would be important to ensure that this group did not duplicate the work of others,
including the York Economic Partnership, as they regularly focused on this issue;

It would be good to get Partnership sign up on LDF progress, particularly since
WOW have a responsibility to endorse it;

York Environment Partnership would be interested in commenting as part of this
group;

Discussion time at regular Partnership meetings on LDF matters is limited. As a
result, advice from working group members on what other partners should focus on
would be helpful;
Action – it was agreed that the secretariat would liaise with the City Development team and
make arrangements to establish a Without Walls LDF Advisory Group.
3
DRAFT HERITAGE STRATEGY
Partners were presented with an initial draft of a Heritage Strategy for York, which had been
developed in consultation with the York@Large partnership. Partners comments on the draft
were invited and would be incorporated to a final version that would be distributed for wider
consultation in March 2010. John Oxley, the council’s Archaeologist, explained that the draft
was strong on words and included a clear set of statements that all partnerships could sign
up to. However, a document that was more accessible to the general public would have to be
developed as part of the consultation process. Partners comments on the draft included:

It was surprising that the strategy only extended as far as 2013;

The short timescale had been deliberate in order to be able to see concrete plans
being delivered;

The LDF team planned to commission a heritage topic paper;

The strategy would plug a gap in the LDF that English Heritage had raised in the
past;

The strategy should be aspirational and contain clear commitment to
masterplanning for the city centre. In addition, decisions on the Minster quarter and
800 year celebrations were hooks that could be worked in;

More fruitful connections could be referenced e.g. European network of walled
cities;

Priorities and funding were missing from the document;

It was good that the aspiration to become a World Heritage site (WHS) was
referenced;

The 2010 plays on wagons and youth mystery plays could also be included;

It was important to refer to more modern heritage e.g. Air Museum;

The Strategy would intersect with the work of all partnerships and it was important
to ensure that their aspects were incorporated;

There was a tension between preserving and using heritage, therefore, emphasis in
the document had been on learning;

If the document was only going to focus on the next three years it would need to be
tight and include spending commitments;

It was good that the strategy focused on people;

In terms of WHS progress, the city were awaiting publication of new Guidance by
the Dept. of Culture, Media and Sport. The WHS committee were due to meet
imminently, however, it was warned that no further developments may emerge
before the general election;

York had the largest concentration of research archives in the north and their
importance should be boosted in the document. Unesco’s world archives document
had set York apart from everywhere else;

Heritage captured all areas and it would be important to undertake an impact
assessment at partnership meetings.
Action – It was agreed that the draft Heritage Strategy would be considered by delivery
partnerships prior to wider consultation on the document in March 2010.
4
LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN 3 CONSULTATION
Ian Stokes, Principal Transport Planner (Strategy), attended to give a presentation about
plans to develop York’s new Local Transport Plan, LTP3 (Slides attached). Ian explained that
transport plans used to cover a 5-year period, however, timescales were now unspecified and
therefore it may be possible to develop a 20 year strategy with shorter term action plans.
Stage one of the Plan’s preparation would be to set out the context and challenges facing the
city. The Plan should take account of the government’s five key goals for transport, which
are to:

Tackle climate change;

Support economic growth;

Promote equality of opportunity;

Contribute to better safety, security and health; and,

Improve quality of life
Partners were asked to comment on the context for York, the transport challenges and how
these challenges might be tackled. Comments included
York Context:

Economic Prosperity

More jobs, people and homes…..

Location and isolation

Needs of consumers versus the needs of providers

Needs of employees

Access for emergency services

Getting too complicated to be radical

Taking forward successes (LTP1 & 2) and learning from failures

Location of new development

Medieval town in a modern context
Transport Challenges:

Contributing to a low carbon economy

Connectivity….

Connectivity to global markets

Integration

Infrastructure for electric vehicles

Cultural acceptance / attitude to low carbon economy
 Convenience penalty / benefit

Cheaper, less-polluting vehicles increasing [the] desire to drive

Out-of-town supermarket power to attract people

Sourcing £

Heritage – assist it, not degrade it

City centre conflicts

Movement of freight

ITT capacity

School run
Potential Solutions:

Improving York’s connectivity
 Rail
 Air

Better management of traffic

Better planning of development – local facilities

Increasing active travel (cycling) – particularly children

Smaller vehicles

Zero-emission ‘public sector’ vehicles

Road user charging
 Disadvantages the less well-off
 Permits and trading

Flexitime worsens congestion

Improve road safety (e.g. for cyclists & public transport)

Integrated ticketing

Greater security of bus provision - SQC/SQP/VQP

Promoting and monitoring travel plans

Employer’s needs to be developed (linked to better planning of development)Better
use of the river(s)

Education and promotion.
Action – It was agreed that Partners’ views would be fed in to preparation of the plan and
that the partnership would be invited to participate in future LTP3 consultation stages.
5
EXECUTIVE DELIVERY BOARD PROGRESS REPORT
Partners were provided with details of the Audit Commission’s CAA judgement on York and
mid-year 2009-10 LAA target progress. It was noted that in terms of PWC benchmarking
data York’s performance was good and should be celebrated. The CAA approach to
inspection represented a very different style to the old inspection regime, and had
implications for all partners. The final CAA inspection report was embargoed until the
national release date of 9 December.
Action – Partners noted the content of the report.
6
PARTNERSHIP IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Partners received a draft improvement plan, which incorporated activities relating to:

Actions arising from the Without Walls Conference

The Audit Commission’s Area Assessment judgement; and,

The Without Walls Partnership review.
Partners comments on the improvement plan included:

The partnership has moved on from strategy development to focussing on delivery
and this process would help to identify specifics;

The city’s changing population, as a major cross-cutting issue, was missing. A new
JRF report , which was due to be released, would flag this up in more detail;

Without Walls still needed to address why delivery partnerships were not
representative of the wider community;

The action plan should be prioritised, focussed around themes and the issue of
resourcing needed to be addressed.
Action – It was agreed that the secretariat would further refine the Partnership Improvement
Plan in line with Partners’ comments.
7
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
York Renaissance Project – Partners received a briefing note on plans to draw up an
economic masterplan for the city and to establish a York Renaissance Team, funded by
Yorkshire Forward. The programme had three strands:

An economic master plan and visioning exercise to be funded by Yorkshire
Forward;

The creation of the Renaissance Team (Six 3- year posts)

The development of a regeneration academy to enhance staff skills.
There was a £6 million budget for the scheme, which would include implementing solutions.
Development of the York North West site would work alongside this process.
Action – Partners noted the content of the briefing note.
There being no other business, the meeting ended at 5:50pm
Date of next meetings:
Without Walls Partnership 4-6pm
11 Feb 2010
12 May 2010
14 Jul 2010
30 Sep – Annual Conference
24 Nov 2010
Executive Delivery Board 2-4pm
8 January 2010 (Special meeting)
8 Mar 2010
7 June 2010