Shaping The Future
Plea issued to support region’s plans for future
POLITICIANS and business
chiefs last night pleaded with the
Government to support the
North-East's ambitions for housing,
transport and jobs in the
next decade.
They called for revisions to the
Regional Spatial Strategy, a key
planning document with the potential
to stifle the region's development.
Today, officials from the Department
for Communities and
Local Government will begin
work on the final draft of the
strategy, after eight weeks of
consultation ended yesterday.
Last year, The Northern Echo
and the North-East Chamber of
Commerce launched the Shaping
the Future campaign, demanding
urgent changes to the strategy.
In February, the Government
announced concessions, but it
was claimed yesterday that there
was still room for improvement.
Bishop Auckland MP Helen
Goodman said she welcomed
Government moves to raise the
limit on the number of houses
that could be built in Wear Valley
and plans to allow extra growth
of the Net Park science centre in
Sedgefield, County Durham.
She said: "However, I would
still like to see the Eastgate Renewable
Energy Village, improvements
to the East Coast
Main Line and extension of the
Tees Valley Metro to Bishop
Auckland."
Kevan Jones, the MP for North
Durham, called for restrictions
on housing numbers to be removed
from the strategy.
Durham MP Dr Roberta Blackman-
Woods welcomed the inclusion
in the strategy of plans to
create a rail freight depot at Tursdale,
near Durham, but said
stronger support should be given
to the proposed reopening of the
Leamside rail line, linking Tursdale
with Pelaw, in Gateshead.
Andrew Sugden, director of
policy for the North-East Chamber
of Commerce, called on the
Government to make major investment
in the region's transport
network a priority, particularly
regarding the A1(M)
Western Bypass at Newcastle,
the A19 and the A66.
MP Nick Brown, the Government
Minister for the North-
East, said: "The spatial strategy
is to be integrated with the economic
strategy, the housing
strategy and the transport strategy,
so we have one strategy for
the region and not four contradictory
strategies.
"It is important to get the spatial
strategy right. I favour an
open, rather than a restrictive,
approach."
The finalised strategy will be
published in June.
10:53am Thursday 3rd April 2008
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