Cautious Welcome for delay in finalising East of England Housing Plan

11.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 11th Jun 2007

The Liberal Democrats on the Regional Assembly gave a cautious welcome today to the announcement that the East of England Plan may not be finalised for several more months

The surprise announcements came from the Government Office of the East of England who said: 'This decision is in response to the points put to us in representations on the original Habitats Directive assessment work from the Regional Assembly, Natural England and others, and which we consider need to be considered before we can finalise the Plan.'

Liberal Democrat Group Leader on EERA Chris White said: 'I am glad that Councillors on EERA have been listened to and that the Government has been forced to take environmental issues seriously.

'The uncertainty is, of course, a worry in those areas around the region set to be ruined by Government policies on planning - one can only hope that a new Secretary of State will take a fresh look at all the issues which concern us and that common sense can at last prevail.'

ENDS