Bid to change boundary slammed

Joey Gardiner, Regeneration & Renewal, 8 June 2007

James Cruddas, head of sustainable communities at the Northern Way, warned that there is no evidence to support the Government's decision to extend the boundaries of both the Tees Valley and Tyne and Wear city regions out to parts of the rural North-East.

The Government last week proposed that Tyne and Wear city region should be extended to include Alnwick, part of rural Northumbria, and that the Tees Valley region should be extended to include Teesdale and Wear Valley, which border on Cumbria.

Cruddas said that the move means the Government is lumping together places with very little relation to the cities, either for the sake of "planning neatness or for jam-spreading".

He added: "What's right for Newcastle is not right for rural Northumbria. Rural places with rural issues need a planning framework that recognises that - not being tagged on to the end of cities."

The Northern Way has been a supporter of the drive to use the concept of city regions, rather than traditional local authority boundaries, to determine public policy on growth and economic development. The movement is in a large part an acceptance of the fact that the majority of future economic growth in any area will be driven by growth in and around its cities.

However, a number of more rural local authorities have been concerned that a focus on city regions could lead to rural areas losing priority for funding.

The move is contained in the Government's draft revisions to the North-East's regional spatial strategy, which determines policy in the region on everything from housing, environment and waste up to 2021. A final decision on the plan will not be made until early next year.

A spokesman for DCLG said: "This is a very significant document and it is important we get it right. That is why we have set out an extended consultation."

- The Draft North-East Regional Spatial Strategy is available via www.regen.net/doc.