Quote from the Guardian Newspaper website (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1288119,00.html)

"The Deputy Prime Minister's Northern Way proposals will be outlined next month. Dubbed 'Prezzagrad', it will include proposals to build fast train links connecting Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Hull and Newcastle"

I think the 'Northern Way' is a grouping together of major northern city regions, the idea of which is to help boost the overall economy of the north. No doubt it's been called 'Prezzagrad' as a slightly disrespectful reference to John Prescott as it falls within his remit.

Like Leningrad? or Stalingrad?

It's just the latest way of making Sheffield look like a suburb of Leeds and Manchester, along with Newcastle and Scunthorpe.

Here is a BBC article on the subject :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/3494477.stm

The term "Prezzagrad" is a red herring. The idea of creating a "super city" running along the M62 corridor is a non-starter because the Pennines are a formidable barrier against urban sprawl and an asset in terms of tourism and quality of life and there are plenty of derelict sites within the large connurbations on either side of the Pennines which can be redeveloped instead. The plan to improve rail links is a good idea, although having longer trains less often on some busy trans-Pennine routes could help increase network capacity, reliability and passenger satisfaction in the short-term. The plan to demolish derelict housing is a good idea, although I hope at least some of it will be replaced with new housing for people who are living in sub-standard housing that ought to be demolished. The idea of helping Northern universities become centres of excellence and enterprise seems like a good idea, although I'm not sure this will have much effect on the wider economy.

The idea of public bodies in different parts of Northern England working together rather than competing against each other seems like a good idea to me. However, it seems that whilst the politicians and people of the North East are eager to have a regional assembly the same cannot be said of Yorkshire or the North West. I fear that this particular political problem will be solved by creating a new quango but at least John Prescott seems to understand some of the problems facing parts of the North of England and has a vision for the future.

Why is prescott so obsessed with concreting over vast swathes of countryside? He is already building over 200,000 new homes in the south east, which is already more densely populated than anywhere else in western europe. We are a small nation, very soon the whole country will be just one massive city if we're not careful!

the fact that the south east is so densly populated is why he's building those homes - to ease over crowding and re-house people who need re-housing

Or is it because there are so many asylum seekers and immigrants coming over here and swelling our already crowded nation? Or is that for another thread?!

What are your thoughts on this?

The Deputy Prime Minister recently unveiled a multi-million pound proposal for urban renaissance for the North of England - 'The Northern Way'. Announcing a comprehensive package of measures to create jobs, sustainable communities, growth in the economy across the North, and to reduce disparities between the North and South, Mr Prescott has set out a bold vision to quicken the pace of change in the North, including cities like Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool and Leeds.


Sources close to the scheme – which is intended to counterbalance growth in the South-East by bolstering the economy in England’s three northern regions – said this week that investment will be concentrated around city regions rather than along the M62 corridor, as originally planned.


England's provincial cities also fare poorly when compared with their overseas counterparts, according to a recent report carried out by Liverpool University for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). This shows Britain's big cities languishing near the foot of a league table of the 60 biggest western European centres. The picture would look even worse if UK cities were ranked against their US counterparts.

Harding points out the differentials, even within relatively confined areas: 'If you look at the M62 corridor, Greater Manchester and Leeds are performing spectacularly, places like Hull are really struggling, and Sheffield and Liverpool are beginning to pull out of a trough.'

ODPM urban policy unit director David Lunts, who is overseeing the group's work, counters: 'There are no UK cities that are basket cases. You would not have been able to say that 10 years ago, but there are still places that are not performing as well as they could. There are cities that are underperforming quite seriously, some places that have not learnt how to make a living in the modern world. They are all learning but I am not sure that they have completely sorted everything out.

'The Northern Way is about creating the conditions within which the market wants to invest,' says Lunts. He says competitiveness is 'the founding stone for the whole initiative'. Just bringing the north's average economic output up to the national average would expand the UK's economy by £35bn a year.

it's had some bad press recently with areas that don't fit the original plan being forcibly purchased and redeveloped anyway.

Can anyone explain where Sheffield benefits in this grand new vision?

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/

Good job they've only given him £100 million to play with, he can't do much damage with that. After what he did to Railtrack they should have given him a pension and a Vauxhall Nova :(

He just wants to link his precious Hull with the success that Manchester and Leeds have enjoyed.

Looks to me that Prescott is confident of doing another term in office.

How 100 million is going to create the infrastructure of these plans is beyond me.

Another load of hogwash???