HC Deb 19 July 2004 vol 424 cc5-7WS
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill)

My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is today publishing for public consultation the proposed changes to the draft revised regional planning guidance for the east midlands (RPG8). They follow the public examination into draft revised RPG8 held in November-December 2003.

RPG8 was issued by the Secretary of State on 24 January 2002 to provide a broad development strategy for the east midlands up to 2021. This also represents the spatial element of the east midlands integrated regional strategy (IRS) and provides the framework for meeting the region's development needs in a way that promotes a more sustainable pattern of development.

The current revision makes the guidance more concise, more regionally specific, more focused on delivery and with cross references to national policy rather than repetition. However, the revision is not a complete review and several key parts are not revised, including housing provision figures which are retained from the existing RPG8. These will be reviewed at the next full review of RPG8 when it is re-cast as a regional spatial strategy under the principles set out in the new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act.

New elements in the draft revision include: New policies to promote sustainable economic growth consistent with the region's economic strategy produced by the East Midlands Development Agency; A new regional transport strategy which has been informed by a number of major studies in the region; Higher targets for improving biodiversity, promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, and recycling waste A new approach to dealing with flood risk Proposals for more detailed sub-regional strategies in parts of the region, including areas of Northamptonshire covered by the Milton Keynes and south midlands study.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister supports the broad thrust of the draft revision and has accepted most of the recommendations of the independent panel, many of which have been made to improve clarity and to eliminate as far as possible any ambiguity in the wording of policies. Among the recommendations that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has accepted is the deletion of a geographically based policy indicating general areas where wind energy proposals might be acceptable and the substitution of a criteria-based policy in line with current Government guidelines as expressed in PPS22.

However, my right hon. Friend has not accepted the panel's recommendation to delete a policy requiring a review of the Nottingham-Derby green belt to be undertaken. The panel's view was that the policy was superfluous as PPG2 provides adequate guidance for any review. However, since the original Nottingham-Derby green belt was drawn up in the 1980s there has been no overall strategic review of the green belt, and with the development of planning policy, particularly related to the principles of sustainable development, together with the increasing development pressures in the Nottingham-Derby area, the Deputy Prime Minister considers that there is a need for a strategic review of the green belt carried out by all the affected planning authorities in a single exercise, overseen by the regional assembly as regional planning body. The policy and supporting paragraphs are therefore retained and amended accordingly.

The issue raising most discussion at the public examination related to a policy that proposed a target of a 50 per cent. cut in the predicted growth in traffic without reference to the Government's priority of reducing congestion in urban areas and at key pinch points in the regional road network. The panel rejected this argument and recommended that the policy be retained. The proposed changes, which are endorsed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, omit the original target for traffic growth reduction but retain the principle of reducing traffic growth as one of a series of measures encouraging behavioural change, which also includes the principle of reducing congestion.

The panel has also suggested that further indicators be included to measure the effectiveness of policies. These require further discussion with regional stakeholders and views on these will be sought during public consultation. This also applies to the inclusion of a new map, which will illustrate the region's environmental and cultural assets.

I have today written to the east midlands regional assembly with the proposed changes indicating areas where views are particularly sought. There will now be a 12-week period for public consultation on the proposed changes which will end on 8 October 2004.

Copies of the relevant documents are available in the Libraries of the House and have been provided for all the region's MPs, MEPs and local authorities. Documents are also available on the Government office for the east midlands website http://www.goem.gov.uk/.