Insider Media Limited

The government has outlined plans to make the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) more "locally accountable". It was one of the quangos earmarked for dissolution in a recent leaked government document.

Its board will be reduced from 13 members to nine, while still having six local authority members, bringing the organisation under a majority local authority control.

In addition, its threshold for determining applications will be raised from 50 to 200 homes from April 2011, subject to parliamentary approval.

A spokesman for the organisation confirmed to Insider that the changes did not affect WNDC's long-term prospects.

Andrew Stunell MP, the minister responsible for the organisation, has visited some of its major projects to set out the proposals.

Chair of WNDC, John Markham, said: "I welcome the confirmation from the minister that the role of WNDC in delivering investment and growth across West Northamptonshire continues to be essential at this critical time.

"The government is clear that our specialist development powers are essential to the implementation of these projects which are complex, ambitious and hugely important for the future of the area.

"In Northampton alone, our programme could secure £900m in private sector investment and around 10,000 new jobs.”

Following the publication of the list in a national newspaper, a spokesman for the organisation told Insider that it was "a limited lifespan organisation, and would only have existed until 2014".