ASSEMBLY TO AGREE VIEWS ON GATWICK FUTURE

THE SOUTH EAST ENGLAND REGIONAL ASSEMBLY will agree its response to the second stage of the Government’s airports policy consultation at its Annual Meeting in Reading on Wednesday, 23 July 2003.

The consultation period for the policy document, ‘The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom – Second Edition’ formally closed at the end of June. However, the Government has given leave to the Assembly, which only meets in full three times a year, to submit a late response to the consultation which looks at the future of Gatwick in the context of the previous airports proposals for the South East.

Other topics under discussion at the meeting on 23 July include:

• The Assembly’s view of the Regional Housing Strategy which will be submitted to Government at the end of July;
  
  
• The election of the Chair of the Regional Assembly for 2003-2004;
  
  
• The Annual report of the Assembly – the outgoing Chair of the Assembly, Cllr Nick Skellett, will report the Assembly’s achievements for 2002-2003.

The meeting will also include SEEDA’s annual report to the Assembly by its Chairman, Jim Brathwaite OBE and Chief Executive, Anthony Dunnett.

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