Hull heads regional Levelling Up winners

The council is hopeful that Peel, which closed Doncaster Sheffield Airport in 2022, is ready to enter into a long-term lease that will allow a reopening at the heart of a South Yorkshire Airport City project.

Full council has endorsed amendments, meaning a planning inspector will now run the rule over how the city intends to guide development in the years to 2039.  

The footprint for a freeport tax site in the East Yorkshire town, amounting to around 500 acres, has been submitted for approval as the Humber Freeport takes shape.

The government’s plans to improve capacity in the planning system win cautious praise. Plus: the great Green Belt vs brownfield battle returns to the headlines.

Can a change in political power, and a new mayoral development corporation, begin to resolve Middlesbrough’s property problems? Plus: overspending at Manchester’s Factory International and underspending at the Department of Levelling Up.

Leeds City Council leader Cllr James Lewis is among civic figureheads calling for a high-speed rail rethink, promoting a plan costing roughly half the £15bn originally estimated for the eastern leg.

Chair Simon Bird said the freeport could be “the primary vehicle for the delivery of the Government’s levelling up agenda in the Humber”.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the government will commit £80m as the area looks to build on its advanced manufacturing base.

The Department for Transport will also kick off a new study into HS2 plans for Leeds following the committee’s second report on the Integrated Rail Plan.