A NEW advisory group could play a major role in driving forward the North-East’s offshore wind market, a business organisation says.

Sarah Green, director of the CBI in the North-East, said the Infrastructure Planning Commission should streamline the planning process.

The commission hopes to cut the time taken to make large planning decisions from up to seven years to a year at most.

Mrs Green said that for too long, schemes of major national importance had ended up becoming bogged down in planning delays.

The Tories, however, say the group will strip local people of any say over major projects such as power stations, airports and motorways.