Over 16,000 respond to housing growth consultation in the East of England
28 January 2010
Over 16,000 individuals, organisations, businesses and local authorities responded to the public consultation on economic and housing growth in the region to 2031 which ran from September – November last year.
Four broad scenarios on the scale and distribution of housing growth were put forward for consultation, ranging from 26,000 to over 33,000 new homes per year. EERA had already rejected the highest end of the range of new homes being proposed by the Government – about 39,000 new homes a year.
The responses included over 1,000 individual responses. There were also five petitions and polls including ‘Stop Hanley Grange’ (10,000 responses); ‘Castle Ward Cambridge Poll’ (250); ‘Stop Harlow North’ (530); ‘North Mymms District Green Belt Society’ (470); and North Hertfordshire LDF Consultation (5,000).
The public responses generally favoured lower growth scenarios with around two thirds preferring a growth rate similar to or lower than scenario 1 (26,000 homes per year). Higher growth was favoured by developers.
EERA Regional Planning Panel Chairman, Cllr Derrick Ashley, said: “The consultation was a really valuable exercise. We are looking closely at all the responses before publishing, in March, a detailed plan for how many new homes are needed up to 2031.
“We reject just aiming for higher and higher numbers of houses in the region. Although we need to plan for new homes so that first-time buyers, young families and others in housing need can buy or rent a home at a price they can afford, we also want to protect the environment and the quality of life for existing and future residents of the East of England.
“Crucially, any growth strategy requires much more investment in improved infrastructure, environmental protection and responding better to the challenge of climate change.
“Although there may be changes to the planning system in the years ahead, the evidence gathered will be valuable for the continuing need to plan for new jobs and homes in the region.”
The consultation was part of a wider review of the East of England Plan which covers important issues such as transport, the environment, energy and waste as well as new homes.
The 12-week consultation received high levels of press coverage and included over 30 public events attended by over 1,400 members of the public.
The revised East of England Plan is due to be completed by 2011, although this may be affected by the General Election later this year. The public will have further opportunities to have their say as the process continues. It is the responsibility of local councils to determine the exact locations of where new homes should be built through their local development frameworks.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
The consultation documents are available at:
www.eera.gov.uk/What-we-do/developing-regional-strategies/east-of-england-plan/east-of-england-plan-review-to-2031/
For further information or to arrange an interview with an EERA spokesperson, please contact:
Claire Sefton, Tel: 01284 729427 Mob: 07920257940 Email: Claire.sefton@eera.gov.uk
Helen Sharkey, Tel: 01473 326405 Email: Helen.sharkey@projectpr.co.uk
East of England Plan
The long-term planning framework for the sustainable development of the region is provided by the East of England Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy). The East of England Plan provides the basis for local authorities to prepare their local development plans and for other organisations to plan their investment e.g. NHS, Highways Agency, water companies etc.
The current East of England Plan[1] sets out regional planning policy to 2021 but many councils are already preparing local plans stretching to 2026 and beyond. A focused review of the East of England Plan is therefore needed to set out regional planning policy from 2011 to 2031. It will plan for the region’s growth and prosperity, housing needs and respond to issues such as climate change.
The review of the East of England Plan will be completed in 2011. There will be public consultation at key stages of the process to enable members of the public and others to contribute. The review will consider:
· jobs and homes targets for 2011-2031 including affordable homes;
· broad locations for new development;
· regional infrastructure needs e.g. transport;
· targets to reduce the use of natural resources (energy, water) and greenhouse gas emissions;
· priorities for the environment such as the countryside and biodiversity protection.
In undertaking the East of England Plan 2031, the Assembly is working closely with the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East).
Consultation Responses
Stop Hanley Grange (10,000 responses)
http://eera-consult.limehouse.co.uk/common/search/advanced_search.jsp?id=389811&sortMode=response_date&lookingFor=representations&tab=list
Stop Harlow North (530)
http://eera-consult.limehouse.co.uk/common/search/advanced_search.jsp?id=373438&sortMode=response_date&lookingFor=representations&tab=list
North Mymms District Greenbelt Society (470)
http://eera-consult.limehouse.co.uk/common/search/advanced_search.jsp?id=368136&sortMode=response_date&lookingFor=representations&tab=list
Castle Ward Independent Cambridge (250)
http://eera-consult.limehouse.co.uk/common/search/advanced_search.jsp?id=366356&sortMode=response_date&lookingFor=representations&tab=list
5,000 responses submitted to North Hertfordshire LDF consultation anti growth at Hitchin. EERA agreed to report the level of response to members and that members of the public did not need to submit a separate response to the East of England Plan>2031 consultation. We don’t therefore have a record of this on our consultation portal.
East of England Regional Assembly
1. The East of England Regional Assembly is independent of Government and is not a Government agency or quango. It represents the regional interests of people living and working in the East of England.
2. The Assembly has 96 members of which two thirds are elected councillors (from the 52 local authorities in the region) and one third are stakeholder representatives. Its meetings are open to the media and general public.
3. The Assembly is the designated Regional Planning Body for the East of England until March 2010 when it will cease to exist.
4. During 2008/09 EERA’s work included:
- £1 billion bid for investment in public transport and roads across the region including final stretch of A11 dualling
- Campaigned against a second runway at Stansted Airport
- Held EEDA to account at six Economic Summits
- Influenced European funding programmes worth £500 million to support employment, skills, climate change and low carbon economic growth
- Delivery of 328 training courses to develop thousands of local authority employees and councillors in the region
For more information on EERA, see the website at www.eera.gov.uk
East of England Regional Planning Panel
Cllr Derrick Ashley (Chairman of RPP), Conservative, 01992 556571
Cllr Alan Crystall (Panel Group Leader), Liberal Democrat, 01702 474047
Cllr Roy Davis (Panel Group Leader), Labour, 01582 730939
Corrine Meakins (Panel Group Leader), Community Stakeholder, 07960 189994
[1] There was a successful legal challenge to the adopted East of England Plan in 2009. This only affects the district council areas of Dacorum, St Albans and Welwyn Hatfield. Further information is available at www.gos.gov.uk/goeast/planning/regional_planning/837825/?a=42496
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