FEARS of rampant development and low business rate income have sounded warning bells over the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight devolution bid.

While Hampshire County Council’s cabinet has welcomed progress on devolution plans for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) leader Ferris Cowper remains sceptical, fearing that it could be a “Trojan horse”, enabling the Government to force councils to accept more house building.

The devolution bid, by the county council, its districts and unitary authorities (Isle of Wight Council, Portsmouth and Southampton city councils) could see the area given greater powers from the Government to support local decision-making for the benefit of residents and local communities, and deliver a £3bn boost to the UK economy.

But fears of excess house building and low business rate income have caused Mr Cowper to have second thoughts about the county’s combined authority bid.

The difference of opinion between the county council and EHDC follows a recent meeting between Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and council and business leaders involved in the Hamsphire and Isle of Wight bid.

Mr Cowper came away concerned that devolution could give the Government the green light to override EHDC’s recently-approved housing allocations plan and derail several neighbourhood plans, forcing planners back to the drawing board to accommodate additional housing numbers of up to 32 per cent, with further consultations, at a cost of millions of pounds.

In an interview with the Local Government Chronicle, following the House of Commons meeting, Mr Cowper is quoted as saying: “The Secretary of State insisted in the [ministerial] challenge meeting that the Government’s demand was more than accelerated planning consent, it was to include consent for more houses, and the impression given has been this would be a lot more houses. In East Hampshire, there is very little public appetite for even more housing.”

He added: “It’s hard to escape the notion that despite the hype of localism, the devolution offer from the Government is nothing more than a Trojan horse to lock in more housing, in defiance of the legally and constitutionally developed local plans.”

The Hampshire bid also called for 100 per cent local retention of business rates, in line with chancellor George Osborne’s announced plans to allow local government nationally to retain all revenue from business rates.

But Mr Cowper said the tariff system, which shifts rate income from wealthier to poorer areas, would leave East Hampshire with only 67 per cent of what it raised, and only 88 per cent for the whole combined authority area.

“The offer of less money, more housing and no clear devolution benefit at all is unattractive in its current form,” said Mr Cowper.

However, at their meeting on December 7, county council cabinet members took a different view, describing the discussions with Mr Clark as “positive”, boosting hopes that the Government was moving toward a devolution announcement in the new year.

A successful devolution deal for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight would, the county council believes, enable the area to gain greater control of the decisions that affect residents and businesses, the aim being to increase the productivity of the local economy and deliver efficiencies, greater economic growth and prosperity, and better public services for local people.

Hampshire County Council leader Roy Perry said: “Devolution would enable local decisions to be made on a local level, giving us more control on areas previously managed by central Government.

“In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight there’s a firm commitment for a single, combined authority, where all partners are equal and working together at no extra cost to the taxpayer. It’s not about replacing or changing the two-tier structure of local authorities in Hampshire, it’s about acting together to get the powers we need from Government to grow our economy, protect our area and deliver a better deal for our 1.9 million residents and 80,000 businesses.

“Our recent meeting with Greg Clark was a very productive session during which he was positive about our collective proposals – praising Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for coming together so quickly to develop a credible and ambitious bid.

“It was also an opportunity to unanimously reaffirm our commitment to taking control of public services and spending in our area in the interests of those who live and work here.”

Mr Perry continued: |Greg Clark has made it clear that he’d like to see more ambitious plans around housing – delivering more low-cost starter homes through the use of public land which could help to unlock an early devolution deal for our area.

“My personal view on that is that housing numbers are primarily a matter for the planning authorities (districts and unitary councils) to agree rather than the county council. To my mind, it would be crucial that there needs to be absolute guarantees from the Government on infrastructure funding for essentials such as roads and schools.

“Also, we have said we would want planning powers to impose appropriate green infrastructure, including green belt, to stop communities coalescing.

“The real dilemma is do we face having extra housing imposed in any event, in which case we would be better able to defend the Hampshire environment with extra powers in a devolution deal.

“Greg Clark also wants to see us acting together with full accountability, although in our view we can do this without having an elected mayor, which is more suitable for large cities.”

Concerned that the devolution bid was not going to work out well for rural areas such as East Hampshire, Mr Cowper believes the urban councils should be allowed to “create the southern powerhouse” from the industrial councils along the M27 while leaving the rest of the county to retain its rural aspect.

The partnership is now preparing to go back to the Government with responses to their questions about the Hampshire and Isle of Wight devolution bid.

Mr Perry added: “If it is good news in the new year, the hard work really begins to underpin the detail within our proposals, as well as to begin planning a public consultation and governance review later in the year to gather wider views about devolution across our area.”

Implementation of any devolution deal would be subject to further decision making by Hampshire County Council, as well as the other partners.