Rare praise from minister

May 30 2006 By Evening Gazette

It was something we never thought we would hear. And that was a Government minister praising a campaign which had called him and his department into question.

Alistair Darling, as transport minister, was in the spotlight because of the Go For Jobs campaign - launched by the Evening Gazette, its sister paper The Journal in Newcastle, and the North East Chamber of Commerce - which has focused on the Highways Agency's use of Article 14 notices.

They are used to stop schemes, which the agency says will put more traffic on major roads across the North-east.

Business leaders fear this tactic is putting more than 10,000 jobs and £1bn investment in the region at risk.

Mr Darling was recently moved to the post of Trade Secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle. And it was in this capacity that he was keynote speaker at the North East Business Awards, which are organised by the Evening Gazette and The Journal.

But he kicked off his speech by praising our Go for Jobs campaign.

Mr Darling dubbed it admirable and said it was "a good example of campaigning journalism".

He added: "We need to make sure we have got good transport links to markets from within England and from the North as well."

In some ways it was faint praise as in the next breath he hit back by insisting the Government has invested in road, rail and local transport schemes in the region.

He believes there would be 'chaos' if planning applications were allowed to go ahead without developers speaking to the Highways Agency and said that Article 14s currently in place were "on the way to being resolved".

But fresh statistics prove the campaign is making a mark.

Figures, obtained by NECC under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that the use of Article 14s has declined.

In the eight months before the campaign, the Highways Agency refused or added conditions to 19 separate planning applications and issued a total of 14 separate Article 14 notices.

But since Go For Jobs began, the agency has made just nine recommendations and issued only three Article 14s. That's what I call a result.