A planning focus on delivering successful growth

Yesterday, Prime Minister Theresa May launched two consultations. One on a revised National Planning Policy Framework and one, on the reform of developer contributions. Both consultations close at 11.45pm on 10 May 2018. SEMLEP will canvassing views of our partners- our local authorities members and the private sector to formulate a response.

This sits alongside our work with partners from across the Cambridge-Milton Keynes- Oxford corridor to further develop a joint vision and governance for the growth corridor, recognised by government as a key growth area. Government’s overarching vision for the corridor, published in the Autumn Budget 2017 recognises the area’s importance in stimulating economic growth in the national interest. In this vision, government asked for ‘stakeholders from across the area to work together to turn the vision for the corridor into a strategy, capable of being delivered through an integrated programme of infrastructure investments, housing and business growth.’

SEMLEP recently hosted a roundtablethat brought together 40 private sector representatives from SEMLEP’s Envoy group, Board and the property and development sector to discuss what the private sector can bring to develop and deliver the future of the growth corridor. At this roundtable, attended by guest speakers, MP Iain Stewart, government’s champion for the corridor and Rachel Fisher, Deputy Director of Regeneration and Infrastructure, private sector colleagues gave their views about the vision for the corridor, as well as the governance and delivery vehicles required to achieve success of global scale and significance. You can listen to brief round-up of the discussion in a video: https://www.semlep.com/growth-corridor/

Hilary Chipping, Acting Chief Executive of SEMLEP said: “The Cambridge-Milton-Keynes-Oxford growth corridor is an important opportunity for our businesses and communities and for the success of the UK economy on the whole.

“To realise success, it’s crucial to ensure we have all component parts of sustainable economic growth - housing, employment land, transport, energy and digital infrastructure, and our cultural and natural environment, as well as investment in skills, science, research and innovation and business support working together to maximise opportunities that greater East-West links can bring to our economy.

“The South East Midlands has a strong-track record in delivering new homes. Our role as Local Enterprise Partnership is to support local authorities to resolve local housing infrastructure issues, such as accessing upfront funding of large-scale economic developments and by using our own capital investments programme to help unlock housing growth."