Regional policy in the South East

Regional Policy - why it matters?

The South East Regional Assembly is drawing up policies that will decide and shape the region's future.

This includes what can and can’t be built in the South East over the next twenty years.

These policies will be contained in the masterplan for the South East known as the South East Plan.

All local councils in the region will have to abide by its content when they make plans and decisions about their area.

An independent review of the plan has concluded that it is likely to lead to more emissions, more waste and new threats to wildlife.

Key issues in the South East Plan that we are focusing on are:

• Flooding
  It is planned that over 100,000 new houses will be built on floodplains in the region. This in an area where 310,000 properties are already at risk of flooding.
• Environmental cost of new housing
  Environmental infrastructure such as flood risk and water resource management to support new homes will cost over £11 bn.
• Climate change
  The famous beechwoods of the Chilterns will struggle as temperatures increase and water becomes more scarce.

Watch this space for further updates.

Further Information

Briefings:

• Tackling climate change in the English regions (PDF† - 361 KB).
• RSS a blueprint for justice and sustainable development in the English regions (PDF† - 458 KB).
• Tackling climate change through planning: the government's objectives (PDF† - 466 KB)

Next: More issues in the South East >

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

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