News Release : 28 March 2007

HEARINGS ON FUTURE OF SOUTH EAST END THIS WEEK

Four months of Examination in Public hearings on the future of the South East come to an end this Friday (30 March).

Nearly 1,000 people from a wide range of organisations were invited to give their views on the South East Plan, the region's 20 year planning framework prepared by the South East England Regional Assembly and local councils. A panel of three independent planning inspectors heard evidence over 42 days of debates in Woking, Chichester, Maidstone and Reading. The South East Plan sets targets for homes, jobs and environmental protection in the region through to 2026. The panel will now consider all the evidence and is expected to publish a report to Government in summer 2007 setting out any changes it thinks may be needed to the Plan.

Cllr Keith Mitchell, Chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly, said:

"The South East Plan hearings have engaged many people and raised even more awareness of the importance of the Plan and what it takes to deliver it. The Assembly spent three years on the research and public involvement that underpins the Plan and we believe it is the right Plan for the region. Government needs to increase investment into the region if we are to deliver the Plan and maintain and improve quality of life for our eight million residents."

Topics at the hearings this week in Reading Town Hall, Reading:

• Wednesday 28 March (morning)
  Western Corridor and Blackwater Valley, focusing on infrastructure and implementation
  
  
• Wednesday 28 March (afternoon)
  Discussions on other parts of Surrey, North Hampshire, West Berkshire and Buckinghamshire
  
  
• Thursday 29 March
  Spatial Strategy, focusing on housing levels and implementation
  
  
• Friday 30 March (morning)
  Monitoring, and the review and format of the South East Plan.

Contacts

Lesley van Dijk, Assembly PR Executive - 01483 555223

Heather Bolton, Assembly Communications Director - 01483 555220

Notes to editors:

1. The Examination in Public programme
   
   
2. Facts and figures about the Examination in Public
   
   
3. The South East England Regional Assembly is a regional partnership with 112 members representing local authorities as well as social, environmental and business sectors.
   
   
4. The Assembly was established by South East local government in January 1999 to provide a representative voice for the region, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire and Surrey.
   
   
5. Assembly members include elected councillors from the region's 74 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) as well as the New Forest National Park Authority.
   
   
6. The Assembly has four key roles:
   
   
   • Advocacy
     Pressing the South East's interests in London and Brussels.
   • Accountability
     Scrutinising the plans and performance of regional bodies such as SEEDA to align the region's priorities.
   • Regional planning
     Preparing and delivering the South East Plan - the 20-year statutory plan for the region that sets the framework for the sustainable development of the South East.
   • Regional policy
     Advising Government on the co-ordination of regional strategies and spending priorities for housing, transport, planning and economic development to improve the impact of public expenditure.

Our vision is for a distinctive, outward-looking, accessible region of prosperous, sustainable communities, with a high quality of life and environment.

Last updated: 15 August 2008

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