And he added that transport was a key enabler of Lancashire 2050, saying: “Going north-south by road or rail is not that bad but trying to travel from here in Blackpool to Burnley is a nightmare.”
Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity programme director at Blackpool Council, told the conference: “Lancashire 2050 is a gathering ground and Lancashire has gathered around it, which is great. That is a big step forward.”
He looked ahead to a potential devolution deal for Lancashire later in the autumn and added: “What breeds success in places is a clear vision about what you want to achieve, a commitment to that and a stabilised focus on delivering it over a period of time, adapting to whatever is changing.
Business wants to be involved in formulating strategic priorities and plans
“Manchester’s mantra has always been, ‘We don’t care what the latest government is calling it, whatever it happens to be, we’ll have some of that and make it work with what we are trying to do.’
“That is the place we are getting to in Lancashire. The levelling up agenda is a huge opportunity, long may it last. If they change the name of it, fine, but strategically it is exactly the right thing to do.”
He added: “Our job in the public sector is to create the conditions and confidence within which the private sector can invest.”
John Chesworth chairs the Forum for the Built Environment in Lancashire, Preston’s Towns Fund Bid and Harrison Drury Solicitors. He said a pan- Lancashire leadership on economic growth was “absolutely fundamental” to the success of the 2050 framework.
“If you have a key project that is seen as fundamental, make sure it is properly resourced and that the county and district local authority are working with each other.”
He added: “Business wants to be involved earlier in the process in terms of formulating strategic priorities and plans.
“Some of the division we talk about in Lancashire is political division. Businesses in Lancashire operate all over the county and we don’t see the borders in economic terms between this district council and that district council.
“What we want to see is the 2050 strategy being something that starts to erode those borders and allows things to progress.
“Business needs a seat at the table to help inform and we don’t want to hear, ‘This is what we are going to do to you’, we want to hear, ‘This is what we are going to do together.’”
He added: “The big picture has to be really ambitious and forward looking, casting ourselves as an international destination for investment.”
Phil Mayall is managing director of developer Muse, which is playing a major role in Blackpool’s regeneration work. He also sits on the board of the English Cities Fund and is a member of the Investment
Nick Gerrard John Chesworth Phil Mayall
Property Forum and British Council for Offices. He said it was important for Lancashire to concentrate on what makes it different and where its strengths lay when it came to inward investment opportunities.
He added: “Get things in the right order, what is right for your place, and it will attract investment.”
Phil, who studied at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), said that when it came to making choices about which areas of the country to invest in, developers like Muse were looking for ‘clarity of vision’.
He said: “The first thing we look for is that clarity of what the place wants, and is there a common purpose, a common goal. Is everyone behind it?”
He added that it hadn’t always been like that in Lancashire with its different tiers of local government and that had been “a big off putter”.
However he said there had been a shift “towards a common goal and a common conversation about what is right for the region.”
And he added: “The greater cohesion between the two tiers of governance is very noticeable and wasn’t always the case. It could be quite confusing frankly.”
Andy Walker
"The best piece of advice I would offer anyone thinking of making a planning application is to contact Smith & Love."
Rational House, 32 Winckley Square, Preston, PR1 3JJ Tel: 01772 965 376
www.smithlove.co.uk
LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK SL LBV
2022.indd 1 05/10/2022 10:06
35
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70
