Memorandum submitted by Ashford Borough
Council, Kent
PROSPEROUS PLACES: TAKING FORWARD THE REVIEW
OF SUB NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND REGENERATION
I am writing to convey Ashford Borough Council's
formal response to the above consultation document, as approved
by the Borough Council's Executive Committee meeting on 29 May.
In the circumstances, the Council does not wish
to respond in detail to the specific questions posed in the document.
The Council would, however, like to take this
opportunity to register its fundamental objection to the whole
thrust of the Review of Sub National Economic Development and
Regeneration (SNR), as clarified by the consultation document.
Major regional planning decisions go the heart
of the "place shaping" agenda. They have a major impact
on individuals and communities throughout the region in question
and they can have major (both positive and negative) impacts on
land and property values. Ashford Borough Council takes the view
that such decisions should therefore be approached in a carefully
considered way that balances all the interests that arise; that
they should follow a comprehensive, inclusive process that involves
extensive consultation and community engagement; and that they
should incorporate a high degree of local political accountability.
The present arrangements, under which Local Planning Authorities
have at least a degree of influence on regional planning matters
via their membership of the Regional Assemblies, may not be perfect
but it does provide some indirect local political accountability
and that has helped to ensure a reasonably rounded approach to
the development of Regional Spatial Strategies.
Local authorities are directly representative
of the communities they serve and, particularly through the exercise
of their responsibilities for plan making and development control,
they have a key role in "shaping" the places that those
communities inhabit. The exercise of those responsibilities needs
to take place within a robust and well-founded regional planning
context, in which all stakeholders can have confidence. The decision
incorporated in the SNR to abolish Regional Assemblies and place
regional planning decisions in the hands of unelected quangos
represents an unacceptable diminution in the role and influence
of local government on decisions that will have profound effects
on their communities.
The consultation document also makes clear the
Government's intention to ensure that the new arrangements should
be highly responsive to central Government guidance. This represents
an inappropriate and unwelcome centralisation of important powers,
which runs counter to the government's professed commitment to
"localism" and the empowerment of local government.
Our concern on this front is reinforced by the fact that the abolition
of the Regional Assemblies will result in a very significant reduction
in the level and effectiveness of scrutiny of the Regional Development
Agencies: we do not regard the scrutiny proposals in the consultation
document as being likely to compensate adequately for this.
It is also clear from the consultation document
that the process of drawing up or reviewing regional strategies
will be truncated and altered in ways that will represent a significant
move away from the consultative, inclusive and bottom up approach
that has traditionally been taken. This will weaken the ability
of communities and stakeholders to influence these important strategies.
At the time of the publication of the SNR it
was said that it would offer a new and powerful role for local
authorities in shaping and delivering economic development and
regeneration in their areas. The reality, as expressed in the
consultation document, falls far short of that. The consultation
document says that the Regional Development Agencies will continue
to be "business led", with no mention of any seats for
representatives of local government on the RDA boards. The duty
to prepare a "local economic assessment" could be a
useful step forward (even though the majority of Local Planning
Authorities are excluded from the new duty) but the most that
is said of the local economic assessments is that they will "inform"
the integrated Regional Strategies. The proposed Regional Leaders'
Forums are to be given a role in developing and "signing
off" the integrated Regional Strategies, but there is no
"dual key" decision mechanism and no power of veto for
the Regional Leaders' Forums so they seem likely to be toothless.
There is also the practical problem of developing
a model for a Regional Leaders' Forum that would be both small
enough to be "manageable" and "able to engage effectively
with the RDA" whilst simultaneously being "representative"
and having "sufficient authority" to take strategy decisions
and agree priorities on behalf of all local authorities in the
region. This will be a particular problem in the South East, with
74 very different local authorities covering a wide range of economic
and social experiences. Ashford Borough Council is concerned that
the legitimate interests of local authorities in general will
not be adequately represented through any such mechanism, leaving
aside the fact that the proposed Regional Leaders' Forums appear
to have very little real power in any event.
For all these reasons, Ashford Borough Council
objects strongly to the underlying propositions that have emerged
from the SNR. We believe that those propositions should themselves
be consulted upon before any further attention is paid to the
detail of how they should be implemented. In particular, we feel
strongly that any new arrangements for regional planning following
the abolition of the Regional Assemblies should provide full opportunities
for all democratically elected bodies in the region to examine,
influence, scrutinise and if necessary call in the recommendations
of the RDAs.
The Council also challenges the government's
apparent intention—reflected in the consultation document—to
implement many of the fundamental changes proposed in the SNR
without waiting for necessary primary legislation to be debated—or
even drafted. That is an abuse of power.
Ashford is of course one of the designated Growth
Areas in the South East under the Sustainable Communities Plan.
Ashford Borough Council has proactively worked with partners to
deliver housing growth and economic development—to the benefit
of our community. The Council has consistently voted by very large
majorities to support the growth plans for the Ashford urban area.
So the Council's objection to the SNR does not reflect any opposition
to housing growth and economic development per se. The
Council remains totally committed to the principles of community
engagement, widespread consultation and local democratic accountability
and it takes the view that the proposals in the SNR as elaborated
by the consultation document do not reflect those principles.
19 September 2008
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