Cllr John Riddle: Cabinet member for Planning, Housing & Resilience
Northumberland Conservatives are committed to growing and diversifying our economy for a brighter future. As the cabinet member responsible for Planning, Housing and Resilience at Northumberland County Council, my number one priority has been to deliver a new evidence based Northumberland Draft Local Plan which is fit for purpose. It includes the planning policies that will be used to guide and determine future planning applications in Northumberland, detail the scale and distribution of new development and include land allocations and designations. The benefits of this will be evident to us all with the plan including all of the main planning policies for the county and mapping out where new homes will be built, new jobs will be created and new services will be provided. In addition, by 2036 we will also see over 15,000 new jobs being created which is a fantastic bonus for our economy and county as a whole.
I want to thank the local development framework working group, and my fellow conservative Cllr Horncastle who Chaired the group for there dedication in helping shape this fantastic new plan. This would not have been possible without the support of some great officers, resulting in the Council submitting the Draft Local Plan to Government ahead of schedule. The next stage is in the hands of the Government and all being well we will be on target to have it all completed by late spring of 2020.
The other big piece of significant news on the planning front is the appointment of Mr Rob Murfin as head of the planning service. Rob brings a wealth of experience and will be a great asset to us all at the Council. There is
no doubt that there is a job to be done in restructuring the planning department and supporting staff in ways which will streamline and enhance the delivery of service in a much more customer focused manner. It is clear that Northumberland is on a prosperous path with all this positive news and I am happy to be a part of the many exciting developments to come.
