Fresh blow for M11 corridor plans

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The government's growth area strategy has suffered a fresh blow after the publication of a planning study criticising the London-to-Peterborough development corridor.

The report, which was written by a team of three in the Planning Inspectorate, analyses the East of England regional spatial strategy. It recommends that development should be distributed around the region in line with housing need. The present strategy is to concentrate new housing in growth areas at the southern end of the M11 corridor, such as Harlow, Essex.

The argument in the report is that development should be channelled toward Hertfordshire towns such as Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn Garden City. By contrast, "The London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough growth area has little coherence in functional geographical or economic terms."

The plan says 507,000 homes must be provided across the region over a 20-year period.

This is a substantial increase on the figure of 478,000 put forward by the East of England Regional Assembly, but lower than the 575,000 that government statisticians estimate will be needed to cope with household growth in the region.

Report backs proposals for an extra 3000 houses in west Stevenage

The report also rejects moves by the regional assembly, which drew up the plan, to tie planning permission for schemes to the provision of infrastructure.

It also makes the following recommendations:

It rejects Ropemaker Property's 10,000-home extension planned for north Harlow, as well as new towns at North Weald in Essex and in Cambridgeshire.
It gives the green light to plans for an extra 3000 homes by Taylor Woodrow as part of the west Stevenage extension, in addition to the 10,000 to be built.
It rejects alterations to the Thames Gateway green belt, including the Thamesgate development at east Tilbury.
It recommends reviews of the London green belt at Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead, Harlow, Welwyn Garden City and Broxbourne
It recommends an extra 4300 homes in Cambridge.

Lawrence Wragg, chair of the Campaign to Protect Rural England East of England, said: "It's now time for the government to recognise that a top-down approach does not work."

Gareth Capner, Barton Willmore Planning Partnership director, said the inspectors had given local councils too much responsibility in shaping growth. "It's not a clear vision and fails to give direction."

The report will now be forwarded to communities secretary Ruth Kelly, who is expected to make a final ruling on housing provision next spring.