MP fears for planning standards

Local government select committee chairman Clive Betts insisted design standards must be maintained after Sheffield city region named the three sites that will form its zone, where firms locating there will get business rate discounts and superfast broadband as well as being able to bypass usual planning rules.

The zone – to focus on advanced engineering and technology – is set to include land around the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley and Sheffield Business Park, near Junction 34 of the M1, land currently being developed at Markham Vale, at Junction 29a, and sites in the west of the Dearne Valley in Barnsley at Junction 36.

“Although the new enterprise zones will have simplified planning arrangements, that should not be an excuse for a planning-free zone,” said Mr Betts, MP for Sheffield South East. “The Sheffield city region local enterprise partnership (LEP) must be focused on ensuring the long-term viability and success of the area.

“We don’t want a repeat of the 1980s enterprise zones where initial, poor-quality, tin-shack development drove away quality sustainable investment.”

LEP chairman James Newman has described having “ambitious plans” for the zone, which aims to boost the private sector.