A STAGGERING 2,000 jobs are 'trapped' in the pipeline for another year until the Government's final ruling, for or against, the Ravenhead retail Park is made public next year.

St Helens Council has given consent for the retail park, which would create 2,000 jobs locally, but the plans were called in by the Merseyside Government Office for a public inquiry, which is set to take place in November this year. The results of the inquiry will not be made public until nine months after the decision. So even if the Ravenhead Retail Park, which includes a supermarket and multi-screen cinema, gets the go ahead, work on the site would not be able to start until late next year.

Council leader Dave Watts, said: "By adopting innovative economic development policies we have made tremendous headway.

"By marketing the borough as a prime location for businesses we had, at one time last year, more than £100 million worth of developments in the pipeline. Our efforts are being seriously undermined because of Government bureaucracy and red tape. It is perfectly plain that although it is the Government Office on Merseyside who call in the planning applications they do not appear to have the authority to approve or reject, this still seems to lie with London.

"I have always doubted the wisdom of local planning issues being dealt with nearly 300 miles away by people who have probably never been to St Helens."

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