News Release : 13 December 2001

PLANNING GREEN PAPER TO STRENGTHEN THE REGIONAL ROLE IN PLANNING DECISIONS

IN AN INITIAL REACTION TO THE PLANNING GREEN PAPER, published yesterday, the South East England Regional Assembly's Director of Planning and Transport has welcomed the proposals to strengthen regional planning powers.

In October, the Regional Planning Committee recommended to the Secretary of State that the status and role of Regional Planning Guidance should be strengthened, and that the level of detail in national planning guidance be correspondingly reduced.

Mike Gwilliam, Director of Planning and Transport at the Assembly, today said, "I think the Regional Assembly will be pleased that our call for enhanced status for Regional Plans, with a clearer relationship to other regional strategies, has been heeded. The Secretary of State is now proposing that the Plans will become Regional Spatial Strategies, and will be given statutory status. They will now be more closely integrated with other regional strategies and will provide a clear longer-term framework for the Regional Development Agency's Economic Strategy. The proposed reduction in the level of detailed guidance at national level also reflects the Assembly's recommendations".

"There are, however, important resourcing and implementational issues which the Green Paper does not resolve. It also contains other proposals which are likely to be much more controversial. The Regional Planning Committee will therefore be holding a full debate about the paper at its next meeting on Tuesday, 8 January and, following this, will be recommending a formal response to the Green Paper to the full Assembly in February."

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
   
   
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007

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