On 17 July 2007, the government announced that Regional Assemblies will be abolished and regional planning will be transferred to the Regional Development Agencies (DCLG statements: http://tinyurl.com/2cstmt; http://tinyurl.com/yogdy3).

The South East Regional Assembly (SEERA) was unloved and will not be missed. But the transfer of powers to the South East Regional Development Agency (SEEDA) is an unwelcome move. The Regional Development Agencies have shown very little interest in sustainable development or the environment, and only passing interest in rural issues. The message is clear, economic considerations will predominate, a message reinforced by the government imposition of a statutory responsibility on local authorities to boost economic growth in their areas.

The South East Regional Development Agency is on record as backing continued expansion of Oxford through urban extensions into the green belt [1]. It is also urging for more housing to be built in the South East than allowed for in the South East Plan, including more housing in Oxford itself. It is sceptical about the Plan's target of 50% of dwellings to be affordable.

Andy Boddington for CPRE said: "SEEDA has a single focus—economic development. It has no experience in balancing economic growth with the need to preserve the natural environment and quality of life. We are entering an age where planning will be driven by economic projections of remote, unelected and unaccountable officials. We can expect green fields, including parts of Oxford's green belt, to be consumed in an urgent dash to erect industrial units, retail parks and housing estates, regardless of the consequences for the environment."

There are a lot of unknowns about the next stage of the process. The Regional Assemblies are unlikely to be abolished until 2010. But will be SEEDA now exert a greater influence over the final draft of the South East Plan? When SEEDA takes control of regional planning, will it immediately tear up the South East Plan? And will we be faced with a new period of uncertainty while the plan is rewritten?

[1] SEEDA submission on Oxfordshire to the Examination in Public into the South East Plan

Further Information

• CPRE national press release
• The South East Plan