South Tyneside

Greenbelt decision a win for all

South Tyneside Friends of the Earth has welcomed the announcement that plans to build a massive industrial park on greenbelt next to Fellgate have been thrown out by the Inspector for the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The green campaign group now wants South Tyneside Council to turn away from environmentally damaging projects to true sustainable development.

South Tyneside Friends of the Earth believes that sustainable development should be at the heart of future development. It provides planning with its core purpose to enhance the quality of life of communities by promoting the highest quality forms of development in the most appropriate locations without compromising environmental limits.

STFOE spokesperson Bryan Atkinson said:

"The preservation of the Fellgate greenbelt is a wonderful victory for all of the people of South Tyneside. This project cynically promised economic speculation at the price of environmental sustainability and urban coalescence. From the public's response to the plans it's clear that many people thought that this price was too high.

"It's encouraging that so many have fought so hard against the development, and suggests that most people want development that respects environmental limits and protects the interests of future generations.

"South Tyneside Council now has an opportunity to rethink it's attitude to planning and revisit the Local Development Framework, and embed within it a model of sustainable development which would seek to improve the quality of life for all, while respecting environmental limits and the ability of future generations to enjoy a similar quality of life."

South Tyneside FOE's alternative LDF core policy statement

It shall be the principal objective of the LDF to ensure sustainable patterns of development which improve the quality of life of all people, while respecting environmental limits and the ability of future generations to enjoy a similar quality of life. In order to uphold this objective, all land use decisions must enshrine the principles of:
• environmental justice: putting people at the heart of decision making, reducing social inequality by upholding environmental justice in the outcomes of decisions;
• inter-generational equity: ensuring current development does not prevent future generations from meeting their own needs;
• environmental limits: ensuring that resources are not irrevocably exhausted or the environment irreversibly damaged. This means, for example, supporting climate protection, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, reducing harmful emissions, and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources;
• resource conservation: ensuring that planning decisions assist in the prudent and sustainable use of finite natural resources.
• the precautionary approach: the precautionary principle holds that where the environmental impacts of certain activities or developments are not known, the proposed development should not be carried out, or extreme caution should be exercised in its undertaking;
• the polluter pays: ensuring that that those who produce damaging pollution meet the full environmental, social and economic costs;• the proximity principle, seeking to resolve problems in the present and locally, rather than passing them on to other communities or future generations.

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