Communities Plan to be updated with emphasis on North …

The government is to launch a revised Communities Plan with particular emphasis on the north of England by next Wednesday, the first anniversary of the plan.

Deputy prime minister John Prescott and senior ministers, including local government minister Nick Raynsford, will tour the North "early next week".

They are expected to announce funding deals with two housing market renewal pathfinders – Newcastle Gateshead and New Heartlands in Merseyside – and to unveil a strategy for pushing a northern city forward as a regional economic driver.

This follows an earlier proposal by housing minister Keith Hill that there should be a housing growth area in the north, along the M62 corridor (HT 10 October, page 11).

As well as changes in the North, the update to the plan will also announce that Peterborough is becoming part of the London Stansted housing growth area.

This will mean the whole of Cambridgeshire is covered by the 12-year project.

Under the proposals, Peterborough's population will grow by 200,000 to 360,000 by 2020 – 20,000 more than outlined in the area's structure plan.

The addition to the growth area will be funded from the £20m held aside for future regional projects.

There is also the possibility of extra money for Cambridgeshire through the 2004 spending review.

The architect of the revised plan is Richard McCarthy, the ODPM's director general for sustainable communities, recruited to the post in November 2003. The acceleration will show him stamping his authority on the plan's delivery.

A Whitehall source said: "The issue for the government is addressing the concerns of northern areas that feel they missed out first time round. There has been a lot of lobbying about the potential for a major economic driver in the north of England – particularly around Manchester."

A northern source said: "The government needs to demonstrate a further commitment to the market renewal agenda by getting government departments to work more closely together. It should also help areas such as the Tees Valley that missed out last time.

"Housing markets are moving so quickly across the North that a lot of voids have now been bought.

"The government needs to show it has a better grasp of the variety in northern housing – it's not just about low demand."