Coventry & Warks LEP reorganises planning group to reflect changing priorities
THE Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s planning group has undergone a reorganisation with a new name; new chairman and new board lead to reflect a renewed emphasis on meeting the area’s future planning and housing needs.
Martin Yardley, chief executive of the CWLEP, has been appointed chairman and Chris Wightman, planning adviser of the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, as vice-chairman of the newly-named CWLEP Planning and Housing Business Group.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, leader of Warwickshire County Council, is the group’s board lead and she will report its findings to each meeting held by the CWLEP board.
The group, which is made-up of private and public sector members, has set out four priorities for 2015 – reviewing planning protocols, monitoring targets for the Strategic Economic Plan, finalising the Green Belt Review and putting together a Single Spatial Strategy.
Yardley said the change of the name and the focus of the group had been made to reflect the range and importance of the activities connected with planning and housing – which were often inter-linked.
He said: “Local Enterprise Partnerships are here to stay and this is a real opportunity to review our planning and housing targets for 2015 to make a real difference.
“This will involve the CWLEP Planning and Housing Business Group achieving four key objectives throughout this year.”
He said the body would be reviewing the planning protocols of the area’s local authorities to put in place measures and monitoring systems to ensure planning applications were dealt with swiftly in order not to delay important economic development.
It will also be monitoring the targets set out in the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan, which it submitted to the government in order to assess the housing and employment land it has available. This is considered crucial for inward investment and to enable companies already based in Coventry and Warwickshire to expand.
“This year will also see the completion of the Green Belt Review which is critical for our area so that we know exactly which land cannot be developed,” he added.
“Finally, we will be establishing our Single Spatial Strategy which has a number of priorities including outlining our investment targets particularly in infrastructure to support development and outlining housing figures for local plans.”
He said this was an important time for delivering planning and housing across Coventry and Warwickshire and the new business group would be instrumental in ensuring the area’s needs were met in both the short and long-term.
