Blueprint for a Great North Plan

Turning support for the northern powerhouse into action: our blueprint for a Great North Plan

Article

There is broad agreement among stakeholders in the north of England that we need a 'Great North Plan' – and that we need to get on with drawing one up. This large-scale blueprint presents the best ideas to emerge on the issue, sets out principles for how the plan should be developed, illustrates the different layers of planning required, and proposes next steps for putting planning into action.

In 2015 IPPR North and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) issued a call for evidence, and organised 11 roundtable discussions in six northern cities. We also held a Northern Summit in January 2016, with further plenary debates and interactive voting. Through all of these activities we asked the question, ‘Do we need a Great North Plan?’. The response was an overwhelming ‘yes’ (93 per cent); and, when asked about their more specific attitudes towards the Great North Plan, 58 per cent of respondents said that, ‘We need to get on and do it’.

To take up our invitation to join other leading northern businesses and local authorities in making a 'powerhouse pledge' to help us take the plan forward, fill in the pledge card on the dedicated Great North Plan website.

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