PLANS to transform a derelict zone of land into a major retail park, creating up to 2,000 jobs, have been halted in a surprise move by the Government Office on Merseyside.

An application to St Helens Council to turn the Ravenhead site into shops, multiplex cinema, food outlets and hotel, will now be the subject of a public enquiry.

The decision prompted an immediate attack by the council for the way the Government Office has been handling major planning applications.

Council leader Dave Watts said: "We are totally mystified by the decision which has major implications for our borough. The land next to the town centre has been reclaimed from an industrial site and is now lying empty. The plans for the retail centre would transform the site into a high-quality leisure and shopping amenity creating much needed jobs in a town where unemployment is currently at 10 pr cent."

It is not the first time the Government Office has called in major plans and the council is concerned that this layer of 'red tape bureaucracy' is delaying the authority's efforts to regenerate the local economy.

The Government Office on Merseyside has called in the Ravenhead application by Greenbank Partnerships Limited because "the application raises planning issues of more than local importance."

The Secretary of State says they will be wanting more information about the development plan for Ravenhead Park; the extent to which it would sustain or enhance the vitality and viability of town centres and district and local shopping centres; would help to provide a focus for retail development where the closeness of competing businesses facilitates competition from which consumers benefit; and would help to maximise the opportunity for shoppers and employees to use other means of transport than the car.

Adds Councillor Watts: "It seems that the whole issue centres around the Government's attitude to out-of-town shopping. However, this is not the case with the Ravenhead development because the site is right next to the town centre with good transport links and providing additional facilities not available in the town such as cinema. Everyone knows that it is a scheme which will boost the town's economy in providing jobs and a much wider customer choice.

"We are quite confident of the merits of this exciting town development."

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