WNDC 'has had positive impact'
The boss of the powerful planning body which Northampton Borough Council wants to scrap has hit back over claims that its time is up.
On Monday, elected members of Northampton Borough Council voted in favour of a motion for its chief executive to write to the Government and demand that West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) be wound up.
But the WNDC chief executive, Peter Mawson, has defended the record of the quango, which is made up of councillors and unelected officials and decides on major building projects.
He said: "We are disappointed that some local councillors do not appear to be aware of the positive impact WNDC has had on Northampton but we fully intend to continue working in partnership with the borough council to enable the town to achieve its considerable potential.
"Only last week the corporation agreed funding for proposals from the County Council to tackle the town's congestion hotspots and from the borough council to improve the Market Square."
Councillors believe the local authority is capable of looking after its own planning matters and many think the WNDC to be both costly and undemocratic.
However, Mr Mawson listed a number of positives the Franklin's Gardens-based organisation has brought to the county.
He said: "We have attracted and invested over 60m into the area's infrastructure, in projects that have improved flood defences, improved town centres and increased capacity on the transport network.
This has levered in nearly 140m of additional investment from the private and public sectors.
"We have put in place a system that has secured developer contributions towards infrastructure of 20,000 per dwelling. This is four times the typical planning contribution achieved by the local authorities in the area.
Contrary to a story in yesterday's Chron, the WNDC chief executive is Peter Mawson, not John Markham. Mr Markham is the chairman. We apologise for any confusion.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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