This week Susan Heywood BSc (Hons) MCD MRTPI one of the UK’s top planning experts who was appointed by the Secretary of State to examine the Northumberland County Council ‘Local Plan’ will deliberate on her findings.
Every Council must have a prime planning document in place to guide its growth over the medium term, often thirty years.
Northumberland County Council and its long term planning team had worked hard over the period from 2009-2017 to produce not only a local plan but to have it integrated into all of its policies, this is known in planning terms as a ‘Core Strategy’.
During the run up to the County Council elections in May 2017, Councillor Jackson an extremely wealthy landowner and farmer and his team ran out a campaign to frighten people entitled ‘Labour, Concreting over your County’. He was also openly critical of the Council working with his Government to develop a Garden Village at Dissington on land close to some he was actively involved with.
On gaining office in May 2017 Councillor Jackson informed the Council he was going to remove the County’s prime planning document, its ‘core strategy’ and replace it with a ‘Local Plan’ a document that reports in the press indicated Councillor Jackson the Tory Leader said would be produced in three months. That was in May 2017.
A freedom of information request regarding the advice taken by the Council and supplied to Councillor Jackson’s Cabinet including Councillor Riddle (another farmer and land owner) who is responsible for the planning function shows that the Government didn’t want that to happen and they had suggested a ‘Ministerial visit to talk it through’ particularly as the Government had already sent Lord Mathew Taylor up to ensure their vision of a top notch garden village was delivered in Northumberland ‘DCLG have offered a Ministerial visit to speak to the new Administration about the potential scenarios relating to the Core Strategy but this would not be arranged until after the General Election on 8th June. It is considered important that this discussion takes place at the earliest opportunity to inform future decisions on the Core Strategy’. Councillor Jackson, Councillor Riddle and their team did not take any notice of Government ministers, nor the Councils officers and ploughed ahead with the Core Strategies removal as farmers know best! Particularly when its your neighbours land the Government is wanting developed and not yours.
The final outcome of the change is a ‘Local Plan’ not in three months but a further three years without the policies and plans of the Council such as Health and well being, regeneration and job creation etc., only referenced and not included in this new plan.
Susan Heywood’s deliberations that are being heard this week, its out on a zoom link for the public to see. Professionals need to register to get on and its been pointed out to us at the Laymen that dozens of interested parties will be online to listen to her outturn and advice but with Farmer Councillor Jackson being sacked from Council by his cohorts and Farmer Councillor Riddle being publicly accused of dodgy land dealings in the countryside make himself richer, (he’s been allegedly reported to the Police) the outturn may surprise us all. But whatever it is the next Council will have to sort it out and decide how they are going to plan for the future when so many Tory Councillors accused of corruption have had their fingers in the ‘Local Plan’ pie?
NOTES:
five attachments FOI
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/core_strategy#outgoing-719616
Zoom
link
www.youtube.com/user/NorthumberlandTV.
Further
information
https://northumberland-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/planning/localplan/lp-exam
Governments
pre Tory Council involvement in planning for Northumberland GV scheme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIDmpkkugA&t=51s
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