Back on the open road
Nov 17 2007 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
THE Journal’s Go for Jobs campaign today celebrates its second anniversary after a year in which almost all of its aims were met.
The Journal and the North-East Chamber of Commerce launched the campaign in November 2005, calling for the Highways Agency to stop placing Article 14 notices on building sites which were expected to create thousands of jobs.
Since then, the Highways Agency has been forced to lift its opposition to planning applications across the region. An Article 14 notice blocks developments that, the agency says, could put extra traffic on the A1 or A19.
In the last 12 months, the region has seen all the proposed sites at one time blocked by the agency finally get the go-ahead, and highways bosses have been warned that they could be barred from using its blocking powers.
The region now has no Article 14 notices in place, and a massive shake-up of regional government proposed by ministers could mean the Highways Agency loses its ability to use Article 14 notices to refuse or delay projects in key growth corridors along the A1 and A19. Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland has previously raised the concerns in Parliament, and last hailed The Journal’s Go for Jobs campaign as a regional success story.
He said: “This was a very important campaign to the region, which has had an incredible impact, not least of which on the Highways Agency. It was important not just to campaign against these Article 14 notices but to show the region just what was happening and I fully praise The Journal and the North-East Chamber of Commerce for their hard work in this.
“The issue does seem to have been resolved now but we still face many challenges in the North-East. Our transport infrastructure still needs investment and upgrading and we still have to push for this. But the Go for Jobs campaign, I think, showed what can be achieved if we all work together for the region’s benefit.”
The Highways Agency confirmed yesterday there are no Article 14 notices in place, and no plans for any in the near future – a key aim of the Go for jobs campaign. A three-month consultation on the agency’s powers has now been launched.
See Monday’s Journal for a four-page special on the Go For Jobs campaign.
