'Don't axe our regional voice' plea to government

May 18 2010 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

GOVERNMENT ministers have been handed a letter urging them to safeguard a regional voice for the North East amid fears the Conservatives would split it into four competing districts.

Business leaders and council chiefs from Northumberland down to Teesside have agreed to request a region-wide partnership be created as the Tories prepare to swing the axe.

The new Government has indicated it wants a shift away from regional governance down to city levels.

Sources have told The Journal that in an effort to appease grassroots supporters in Southern shire councils, the Tories have made it clear that certain “ways of doing things, including anything regional, are a big no no”.

If the plea is successful, the North East could be one of the few regions the Government recognises. Yorkshire, the North West and others may look to set up competing districts.

The Journal has campaigned to preserve the region’s ability to act together in its Case for the North East.

During the build up to the general election political leaders were urged not to maintain a regional voice in the light of the success achieved by bodies such as One North East, which had revived the economy and under-pinned a decade of cultural success.

A North East alliance of bodies, led by the Association of North East Councils, has now written to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Business Secretary Vince Cable to follow up a pre-election offer to create “one focused and strategic economic body”.

The letter, signed by Sunderland Council leader Paul Watson, adds that “there is unanimous support for this proposition geographically, politically and by sector”.