02 July 2004
An influential think-tank is to consider whether the economic expansion that has taken place in the Southeast is sustainable.
The inaugural meeting of the Institute for Public Policy Research's Commission on Sustainable Development in the Southeast was due to take place on July 2 under the chairmanship of Kent County Council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart.
Its brief is broad enough to consider questions of housing supply, transport and effects on the environment, such as water resources.
'This is part of a family of projects looking at questions of regional disparities in prosperity,' IPPR senior economist Peter Robinson told Public Finance. 'We wanted to ask questions about the sustainability of current growth rates.'
Gross domestic product growth in the Southeast outstrips the national average, yet lack of affordable housing has contributed to a skills shortage in the public and private sectors. The government wants to significantly increase new homes in the region, with the Thames Gateway, Ashford and Milton Keynes identified as the main growth areas.
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