M ANY people will welcome the decision to hold a public inquiry into Stoke-on-Trent City Council's decision to allow Tesco to enlarge its Trent Vale store by 75 per cent. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham, will now settle the application, because he believes the authority's decision may conflict with national planning guidelines. Certainly the city council's approval highlights potential flaws in the current system. Stoke-on-Trent councillors may have felt it was appropriate to grant permission for the expansion, notwithstanding its inevitable impact on Stoke town centre, but a Tesco that size is bound to significantly affect nearby Newcastle too. But, having registered its opposition to the expansion, Newcastle Borough Council was powerless to do anything more, even though its residents, businesses and taxpayers might suffer the eventual consequences.

I n passing, it also seems odd for this site to be viewed as 'out of town', standing as it does amid the urban sprawl by the A34 where Stoke-on-Trent's and Newcastle's boundaries meet. While this Tesco may not be in a town centre, it's barely on a green field site in the middle of nowhere. When planning decisions arise that affect people across wider areas, it seems unjust that public bodies that do not represent many of those affected by an application should make the final decision. Unless we have a joint planning body for the Potteries and Newcastle, it seems that there is little alternative for an application such as this to be automatically settled by a higher authority.