黑洞社区

The South-east鈥檚 chief planner has warned the government鈥檚 growth area strategy is losing momentum.

Mike Gwilliam, the planning director of the South East England Regional Assembly said to 黑洞社区: 鈥淪ince the election, we have been losing momentum and coherence.鈥�

His comments came as other leading housing experts signalled that growth areas across the South-east were failing to hit their targets for new housing. Figures compiled from local authority and regional assembly monitoring reports for 2003/04, the last year for which housing completion statistics are available, show an overall housing shortfall of 11.4%, or 1937 homes.

Gwilliam, who announced last week that he is retiring from the South-east assembly, gave as an example the ODPM鈥檚 failure since the election to convene a meeting of the steering group that had been established to drive forward development in the South Midlands鈥揗ilton Keynes growth area.

He said: 鈥淚 want to be proven wrong, but there鈥檚 a danger of things unravelling.鈥�

He expressed concern that communities minister David Miliband was focusing on major northern cities at the expense of the South-east growth areas. On 2 September, 黑洞社区 reported that Miliband was considering the possibility of scrapping one of the four growth areas.

Gwilliam also said that he was worried about the pace of delivery in the Thames Gateway, which has been slower than the schedule advised in a number of studies into the area鈥檚 regeneration.

Reports of delays in delivering the 200,000 additional homes needed by 2016 are emerging from other leading experts in the four growth areas: Stansted鈥揅ambridge鈥揚eterborough, the Thames Gateway, Milton Keynes鈥揝outh Midlands and Ashford in Kent. This follows last week鈥檚 warning by Jon Rouse, the Housing Corporation chief executive, (23 September) that progress in the four areas was patchy.

Since the election we have been losing momentum

Mike Gwilliam, SEERA

Jackie Sadek, former Kent Thameside delivery board chief executive, said fewer homes were delivered in the Dartford area in the two years after the launch of John Prescott鈥檚 communities plan than in the equivalent period beforehand.

Robert Hardy, Kent council strategic planner, said that although there had been an increase in planning approvals in the county鈥檚 stretch of the Thames Gateway, there had not been a similar upswing in completions.

Progress on Bellway鈥檚 Barking Riverside 10,800-home scheme has also slowed because of uncertainty over whether the Docklands Light Railway will be extended to the area, which would improve its connections with central London.

Dale Meredith, development director of Southern Housing Group, one of Bellway鈥檚 registered social landlord partners, said: 鈥淲e have already built properties but not to the plan that is now proposed. Higher densities require the DLR.鈥�

Meanwhile, East Northamptonshire council has yet to grant permission for BeeBee Development鈥檚 Prior鈥檚 Hall application despite Corby council giving consent for its bigger share of the site.

Ben Derbyshire, managing director of architect HTA, which specialises in housing, said: 鈥淭he housing growth area programme has been proceeding more slowly than people anticipated, but if people remembered the amount of planning that went into the original new towns they would not be so surprised.鈥�