'Stop blocking the road to jobs'

Dec 6 2006 By Zoe Hughes Political Editor, The Journal

A top Government adviser has ordered road chiefs in the region to stop blocking key developments at the last minute, amid warnings that they were jeopardising vital North-East jobs.

In an unprecedented move, economist Kate Barker has demanded an end to the Highways Agency's use of Article 14 notices to stop essential developments getting the planning go-ahead and says the quango should do more to solve disputes earlier.

Ms Barker has spent a year investigating Britain's planning system, and yesterday called for the biggest shake-up for decades.

But as well as recommending development of green belt land and allowing businesses to make "goodwill payments" to communities which object to their plans, she hit out at the Highways Agency's actions in the North-East - telling them to stop the practice which has held up developments at Team Valley in Gateshead and Rainton Bridge, Houghton-le-Spring. There was widespread concern about the quango's use of Article 14 notices - which prevent councils taking a decision until the agency is happy about the impact on surrounding trunk roads - to "hold back development," she said

"Both in terms of the number of directions used and the time they take to resolve."

Highlighting the Go For Jobs campaign being run by The Journal and the North-East Chamber of Commerce, she warned that it was the Agency's job to be "more proactive in solving issues of dispute" - instead of merely relying on the use of holding directions, which can delay plans by more than six months. Campaigners and MPs in the region said the Government and transport ministers now had to sit up and listen to the North-East.

"If Kate Barker is saying this then surely the Government have got to stand up and take notice," said Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland.

It was to his grilling of Highways Agency chief executive Archie Robertson during a Commons committee hearing earlier this year that Ms Barker - who also sits on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee - referred to in her report.

Last night business leaders joined Mr Clelland in praising Ms Barker.

Mike Parker, spokesman at the North-East Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday's report had "reinforced the message Go For Jobs has stressed for the past year - that the current conflict between the Highways Agency and developers must be resolved to enable economic growth".

Michael Henning, chairman of the North-East board of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, also welcomed the report, saying: "We are hopeful that the Highways Agency will take notice of her comments in that they need to be more proactive in resolving disputes and that they should not use Article 14 orders at all at a late stage in the planning process."

The main recommendations from the Barker review include:

Allowing local authorities to review green belt "boundaries" allowing the expansion of existing towns and cities and the creation of new "settlements".

A new independent Planning Commission to approve major projects such as nuclear power stations, wind farms, waste centres, airports and roads, with inquiries lasting as little as six months.

Removing the need for planning permission for homeowners if neighbours agree with an extension or conservatory.

Businesses should be encouraged to offer communities and individual objectors "good will payments" - excluding contributions already allowed in the existing planning process - in order to help facilitate developments and gain wider acceptance of their scheme.

Reducing the amount of time taken to deal with planning applications, with most developments dealt with within 16 weeks, inquiries to be completed within 22 weeks and appeals processed within six months.

Planners should give greater priority to design quality, with Kate Barker insisting reform of the system should not be at the expense of quality.

Government, quangos and agencies should have early discussions with developers to prevent the use of last minute "holding" orders, such as Article 14 notices used by the Highways Agency in the North-East.

Ministers should be limited in their ability to decide planning cases, however, they should set out strategic statements detailing future policies on energy, transport, waste and water over the next 30 years.

Introducing a new tax or "charge" on landlords who fail to develop vacant or derelict brownfield land.

Economic development should be put at the heart of national and local planning policy.

Ensuring the planning system, and councils, respond to market signals - such as rising house prices - in deciding whether to free up more land for development.

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Housing plans slammed

Planning inspectors' verdicts on future housing in the North-East could damage the environment and increase road congestion, local authority bosses have warned.

In a damning assessment of the latest report into the region's planning policy for the next 15 years, Tyne and Wear council leaders have hit out.

The report, by independent inspectors, proposed allowing just a fraction of the extra 50,000 houses the Tyne and Wear authorities wanted to build in the area. It would allow "easy" development on greenfield sites in Northumberland and County Durham, damaging the environment, said Sunderland director of development and regeneration Phil Barrett, on behalf of the five Tyne and Wear districts.

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'Urban sprawl' a green belt risk

Thousands of homes and businesses could be built on the green belt surrounding towns and cities in the North, a major Government report said yesterday.

Proposing the biggest shake-up of Britain's planning rules for decades, economist Kate Barker called for protected green belt land to be opened up for development - in a move countryside campaigners attacked as paving the way for the expansion of urban sprawl.

The report, commissioned by the Chancellor Gordon Brown last year, warned that the current planning system and its restrictions was harming the economy and fuelling property price increases by slowing down house building.

But in remarks that have infuriated rural groups, Ms Barker recommended the green belt around cities such as Newcastle and Durham be replaced with green "wedges" or "corridors" to allow the expansion of existing urban areas - and even the creation of entire new settlements.

Last night, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England in Northumberland said the green belt was vital to stop American-style sprawl where cities stretched hundreds of miles. With just six miles separating Tyneside and Wearside, chairman Dominic Coupe said it was vital to protect the green spaces between, adding: "This is not just about what the countryside needs but about what people living in cities need."

The Barker review declared that vast swathes of green belt land around the edges of large towns and cities was merely "low-value agricultural land" with little landscape quality and limited public access.

It suggested that parts of the green belt harmed the environment by forcing commuters to "leapfrog" it with longer journeys to work.

Hexham MP Peter Atkinson said it was right though to develop "grey land" sandwiched between cities and the countryside. He said: "We have got to allow towns and cities to grow in a sustainable way otherwise the number of people moving out to rural areas is going to grow and grow."