Newcastle and Gateshead city leaders to merge over planning
May 1 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
CITY leaders are to “merge” Newcastle and Gateshead by creating one set of planning rules to cover both sides of the Tyne.
For the first time the two councils will be treated as one area for overall planning purposes in a move which will have major implications for attracting jobs to the region and for housing decisions.
It means councillors in Gateshead will legally be forced to consider the impact in Newcastle, and vice versa.
Officers in Newcastle are to create the UK’s first “joint core strategy” after their last city planning blueprint was rubbished by Government inspectors. Instead of re-writing those documents, plans covering the regeneration of Newcastle up to 2021 will now be shaped alongside those for Gateshead.
The legally-binding planning laws will take three years to produce and will govern which areas are suitable for major regeneration or housing.
Nick Kemp, who chairs Newcastle’s regeneration committee, said the merger may not be controversial but still raised “difficult questions” about why previous plans were rejected.
“Then you have to ask what will become of our key regeneration schemes since we will not have this document in place for at least three years,” he added.
“The vast majority of such projects in the city have ground to a halt, with a lot of the problems linked to them hidden behind the excuse of the economic downturn.
“The worry here is we will be directionless for three years.”
But Bill Shepherd, Newcastle council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, said the joint strategy was simply a natural progression for the two authorities.
He said: “I think the argument that says are we getting too close to Gateshead has already been had and won. We knew when we started the city of culture bid we needed to forge closer links.
“Then the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the touchstone of economic advice, said in no uncertain ways we had to consider the two one economic area.
