Cambridge Labour Parliamentary spokesperson Daniel Zeichner, today responded to the consultation being carried out by the East of England Regional Assembly by launching a strong attack on current development plans for the Cambridge region and beyond.
 
Daniel is heading a Labour campaign challenging regional development plans. 
 
Labour supports the case for major housing growth in the Cambridge sub-region but argues that current regional decisions about where these should be sited are 'illegal and unacceptable'.  
 
Mr Zeichner said: “The Cambridge sub-region needs more homes for local people and those who want to work here.  But the Regional Assembly failed to assess the possible range of alternative options when it identified sites such as Marshall's airport for development. All the local authorities then accepted the proposed sites, except Hertfordshire, who took their case to the High Court and won. The Hertfordshire case demonstrates clearly that the Regional Assembly did not do its job properly, that the local authorities involved failed to stand up to them, and the illegality of what the Assembly proposed has now been clearly demonstrated.”
 
As well as getting the process wrong, the Regional Assembly needs to face the facts that sites may no longer be available. For example, despite Cambridge airport redevelopment being proposed 9 years ago for housing in 2000, and listed as a priority site in the Cambridgeshire Structure Plan in 2003 6 years ago, there has been no clear progress since, nor any commitment that the site is definitely available for housing.  The continuing assumption passed up to the Regional Assembly that this site is available remains incorrect.”
 
“The public consultation carried out by the Regional Assembly has just come to an end and this presents a very one-sided view of things because it just asks how many new houses should be built without providing evidence that enables the public to understand the full implications involved.  The results of this consultation should therefore be treated with a good deal of scepticism.”

Photo: Daniel at the Marshall airport site, one of the inappropriate development sites being forced through by City Lib Dems and County Tories.