‘Oven ready’ site sought to speed up creation of Enterprise Zone

Officers from every member council in the Leeds City Region have been sent away to identify possible sites so a decision on which is the best can be made next month, but leaders are anxious not to waste any time and are adamant sites must be ready to start developing straight away.

Councillors and business leaders may try to convince the Government to allow two or three separate sites to be classed as a single Enterprise Zone, where businesses will enjoy business rate discounts, superfast broadband and fast-track planning. But they are keen to choose one site first rather than have the entire thing delayed by having to negotiate with Ministers.

The Aire Valley in Leeds – where there are plans for thousands of homes and businesses – is widely thought to be the favourite but other parts of the city region, which covers 11 council areas, are keen not to miss out and sources insist other places are in contention.

Council leaders met yesterday and Barnsley’s Steve Houghton said there was enthusiasm to get development under way “as quickly as possible”. Local authorities will be able to keep any business rates from companies on the site for 25 years, so the sooner the money starts rolling in the sooner it can be spent on economic development.

“We’ve got to have sites that are oven ready, so they’re up and ready to go,” said Cllr Houghton, who chairs the City Region leaders board. “That will narrow the field down. We’ll work with businesses in the region to get the Enterprise Zone up and running as quickly as possible. But it isn’t just about the Enterprise Zone – future investment will be spread out across the city region.”

Chancellor George Osborne announced the go-ahead for Enterprise Zones in the Budget last month, although Ministers hope to avoid problems experienced when the policy was first run in the 1980s and businesses simply moved from one area to another to enjoy the tax break,

The Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board met for the first time on Tuesday and discussed the issue before yesterday’s meeting of the Leaders Board. The LEP Board will take the final decision on where the zone should be, probably next month. It agreed a set of principles which should determine the chosen site.

Ministers are banking on the 21 Enterprise Zones – including one in Sheffield City Region – to help to boost the private sector and create thousands of jobs. But while business rate discounts and some other benefits will only be available within the boundaries of the 50 to 150-hectare site, Ministers are risking controversy by pushing for some planning advantages to be extended more widely.

Inside the zone, local development orders will be applied, meaning only schemes affecting listed building or in environmentally sensitive sites would need to make formal planning applications.

But Ministers have made clear they are keen for the orders to be applied beyond the boundaries as well. With their focus on growth, they are frustrated that the orders – which have been available to councils for years but barely used – are not already in force more widely.

“However, Fiona Howie, head of planning at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said the move was “worrying” amid fears local people will be powerless to object and inappropriate buildings will spring up.

“We’re worried about Local Development Orders generally,” she said.