Chris White has today slammed the current consultation over housing numbers which could see an ADDITIONAL 9,500 homes built in the St Albans area - over and above the already excessive targets previously set by the East of England Regional Assembly.

Chris, speaking at the County Council’s Environment and Planning Panel, said: ‘The original figures were already based on inflated demand - fuelled by the tendency of irresponsible bankers to lend to home buyers who can’t afford it. It beggars belief that this situation will be allowed to continue unchecked even if the bankers’ friends - the Tories - were to win the next election.’

He added: ‘St Albans in particular is likely to suffer under these plans: it cannot cope with a total of 16,480 extra homes without entirely grinding to a halt. I note that there are no significant government plans to improve public transport. After all they have handed over all our money to the bankers - the same people who caused the inflated growth figures in the first place.’

Local entrepreneurs can get their hands on loans of up to £200,000 to help start-up and grow businesses, even if they have been refused by their banks.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has loan programmes in place to help businesses looking to borrow between £500 and £200,000.

‘Small Loans for Business’ offers between £500 and £50,000 to regional businesses whose funding applications have been refused by the banks.

Alternatively, EEDA’s ‘Regional Growth Loan’ can provide up to £200,000 for small to medium-sized businesses that have a real potential for long-term growth and a workable business proposition.

The news comes on the back of the Federation for Small Businesses’ criticism of UK banking for small businesses and their call for “alternative sources of finance to be provided locally.”

Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said:

“Business owners often think that they have nowhere to turn if they are refused credit from the banks, but that’s not true. Here at EEDA, we are offering loans with flexible repayment terms to businesses with viable business plans – businesses which may just be seen as too risky for banks to support in the current climate.”

EEDA are also providing a helping hand to companies unsure of their funding or finance needs through their ‘Understanding Finance for Business’ programme. Delivered by St John’s Innovation Centre, it has been designed specifically to prepare companies for raising finance – whether through a bank, venture capitalist, business angel or even public-sector grant funding.

To find out more about regional loans and grants, or to register for the Understanding Finance for Business programme, visit www.eeda.org.uk/finance.

EERA press release

The public will be asked for their views on how many more homes are needed in the East of England in a major public consultation being launched on the 2nd September, the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) announced today (18 August 2009).

The consultation will run until 24th November 2009 and will primarily seek views on four different scenarios for the number of new homes needed in each council area every year to 2031. Eleven consultation events are being held across the region in September where members of the public can hear more.

EERA Chairman Cllr John Reynolds said: “This consultation is to promote public debate on planning for the future of the region and specifically the issue of new homes.

“The East of England Plan is of interest to everyone in the region as it provides the framework for councils’ local plans and covers the economy, housing, transport, the environment and climate change.

“The Assembly has already rejected the highest end of the range of new homes being proposed by the Government. But we do need to plan ahead to ensure that people can gain access to homes they can afford and that new homes are close to jobs, transport and other public services.”

The Government has asked the Assembly to revise the East of England Plan which sets out how many new homes should be built each year (See Notes to Editors). The revised Plan will not be completed until 2011 and the public will have further opportunities to have their say. It is the responsibility of local councils to determine the exact locations of where new homes should be built through their local development frameworks.

Full details of the public consultation will be published on the Assembly’s website at midday on 2nd September.

Consultation events are being held in September at the following locations:

2nd - Norwich

3rd - Chelmsford

8th – Chicksands, Bedfordshire

9th - Stevenage

10th - Cambridge

14th - Peterborough

16th - Ipswich

22nd - Luton

23rd - Southend-on-Sea

24th - Thurrock

30th - Huntingdon

Residents can book a place online at: http://events.eera.gov.uk/conferences/ or contact Jayne Cole, Conference Organiser, EERA, 01284 729405, jayne.cole@eera.gov.uk

An information pack with full details of the review of the East of England Plan is available at: www.eera.gov.uk/News/public-information-packs

Ends

Notes to Editors:

For further information or to arrange an interview with an EERA spokesperson, please contact:

Stephen Hinchley, Tel: 01284 729430, Mob: 07710 312237, Email: stephen.hinchley@eera.gov.uk

Helen Sharkey, Project PR

tel: 01473 326405 mob: 07521 318127 email: helen.sharkey@projectpr.biz

EERA will issue a media release for each county in the East of England on 2nd September 2009 with the content of the consultation document and how to respond.

East of England Plan

The long-term planning framework for the sustainable development of the region is provided by the East of England Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy). The East of England Plan provides the basis for local authorities to prepare their local development plans and for other organisations to plan their investment e.g. NHS, Highways Agency, water companies etc.

The current East of England Plan1 sets out regional planning policy to 2021 but many councils are already preparing local plans stretching to 2026 and beyond. A focused review of the East of England Plan is therefore needed to set out regional planning policy from 2011 to 2031. It will plan for the region’s growth and prosperity, housing needs and respond to issues such as climate change.

The review of the East of England Plan will be completed in 2011. There will be public consultation at key stages of the process to enable members of the public and others to contribute. The review will consider:

- jobs and homes targets for 2011-2031 including affordable homes;

- broad locations for new development;

- regional infrastructure needs e.g. transport;

- targets to reduce the use of natural resources (energy, water) and greenhouse gas emissions;

- priorities for the environment such as the countryside and biodiversity protection.

In undertaking the East of England Plan 2031, the Assembly will be working closely with the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East).

East of England Regional Assembly

1. The East of England Regional Assembly is independent of Government and is not a Government agency or quango. It represents the regional interests of people living and working in the East of England.

2. The Assembly has 96 members of which two thirds are elected councillors (from the 52 local authorities in the region) and one third are stakeholder representatives. Its meetings are open to the media and general public.

3. The Assembly is the designated Regional Planning Body for the East of England until March 2010 when it will cease to exist.

St Albans City and District Council is celebrating its high court victory preventing thousands of new homes being built on the green belt in and bordering the District and creating a continuous urban sprawl between neighbouring communities.

Cllr Robert Donald, Leader of St Albans City and District Council, said: “This is a great victory for our council but above all for our residents. It is a real David and Goliath moment. This shows we were right to take legal action despite being originally advised there were high risks and that success was not guaranteed. This result illustrates our unequivocal commitment to defend the green belt and to safeguard the unique character of the natural landscape and the mix of historic city, towns and villages around our District. These proposals would have ruined this unique character for ever. We recognise this is only one battle won and not the whole campaign. I will go on challenging increased housing development proposals in the green belt as long as and as far as I possibly can to save our District from becoming just another Greater London suburb.”

In a landmark legal case the council has successfully challenged the proposals in the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (the Plan) that related to the development of potentially 5,000 plus homes to the East of Hemel Hempstead, within St Albans District, and more than 1,000 to the west of Hatfield/Welwyn Garden City, actually bordering the District.

This is the first time that any council has successfully brought a legal action in England asking for parts of a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) like the East of England Regional Plan, to be quashed.

The government will now be forced to re-examine these particular site proposals in the regional plan. The council will also have to review its current draft Local Development Framework Issues and Options planning document, in the light of this legal decision, and this may mean a small delay in publication and the start of the consultation period.

The council issued legal proceedings, along with Hertfordshire County Council, against the government in June last year seeking to quash those parts of the Plan that relate to proposed housing growth east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield.

Following a three-day hearing in the High Court that ended on 20 May 2009, Mr Justice Mitting found that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government had not conducted a proper environmental assessment in preparing the Plan. He also ruled that the parts of the Plan that relate to the housing growth to the east of Hemel Hempstead and the west of Welwyn/Hatfield be quashed.

He ordered that the Secretary of State pays the council £15,000 towards over half its legal costs.

Cllr Chris Brazier, deputy leader and portfolio holder for Planning and Conservation, at St Albans City and District Council, said: “The council challenged the East of England Plan in the interests of our residents. I am pleased that the High Court have accepted our arguments that the proposals in the Plan for additional housing were not properly assessed as to their environmental impact.”

Residents have begun asking me about the Liberal Democrat stance on the East of England Plan.

Some of you may remember that we campaigned under the slogan ‘Hands off Herts’: in short, we have vigorously opposed the excessive housing numbers proposed for Hertfordshire, especially in the St Albans area. These are based on massive projections of growth in demand for housing. They are clearly unsustainable: we simply do not have the roads, the public transport systems, the medical services or the schools.

Meanwhile the Government has ploughed ahead with these excessive plans so that thousands of new homes are currently scheduled both to the west and to the east of the District.

What has been exasperating about the process has been the Government’s fixation with restraints on housing suppy (the planning system, local people, and local councils). The Barker reports were predicated entirely on the fact that the problem lay with the supply side. no analysis was done of the reasonableness of the demand.

But the credit crunch has shown beyond doubt that some of this demand - maybe the greater part - was due to a defective mortgage and banking system, where people were inflating house prices after being offered unaffordable loans. There is reason to suppose that there has been a step change: there will be no mortgages in excess of 100% of the value of a property and deposit will again be required.

So more than ever we must challenge the numbers - while being reassured that it is unlikely that there will be any major new house building starts in the foreseeable future while the banks are paralysed.

Yesterday the Government has released the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) which sets out the development plans for the next 13 years in the region. The plan calls for 508,000 houses to built and the creation of 452,000 jobs in the region and suggest the growth areas throughout the region including Chelmsford, Hemel Hempstead and Thurrock. However the plan does not cover the extend of infrastructure improvements that will be required for this kind of growth. Nor does it provide the financing for this.

Chris White, Liberal Democrat Leader in the East of England Regional Assembly said: ‘It has been a long wait for the publication of this document. It suggest major changes for growth areas but as usual has no money to implement the changes that are required in infrastructure. Not only do we need increased investment in roads and rail to cope with these increases in population but also schools and community facilities.

‘The launch and distribution of the document has also been a mess. Press have been informed and given details and data, but nobody seems to have told the councils who will have to implement these orders from government.’