Flags fly again in the Valley
A 'no' from Government has disappointed but not disheartened the Tees Valley area. Watch for its renewed vigour, says Hugh Lang.
WHEN Local Government Minister John Healey addressed the inaugural conference of Tees Valley Unlimited in February, he could not have been clearer in his praise for its pioneering endeavours in partnership working over the past decade.
He told the conference: “I talk about the Tees Valley a lot in other areas of the country – the foundations which you have laid in your Multi Area Agreement, the strengths of working relationships and strengths of your shared goals.”
A very encouraging message – one that gave us real hope we would be in line to take the next step forward in strengthening the Tees Valley’s position as a major economic player through our bid to become one of the areas selected to lead the way in the Government’s City Region Forerunner initiative.
This in turn would have offered the chance to develop new City Region arrangements, giving much greater local influence over key issues and speeding up vital regeneration activities.
But the Budget came a few weeks later and the announcement that, despite the acknowledged strength of the Tees Valley bid, the two areas chosen as pilots were to be Manchester and Leeds.
Certainly this has been disappointing, but it is not the end of the road for the area continues to develop partnership working, stressing the commitment of all sectors to work together to deliver the shared vision of a 21st Century Tees Valley.
This will be a Valley with a diversified economy, a skilled workforce and a quality of life and environment – a place where people want to live, work and invest.
The bid for City Region Forerunner status stressed that the Tees Valley is “one of the UK’s economic powerhouses”. That remains so. It has the nation’s largest heavy industrial complex, contributing £9.6bn to the national economy.
Tees Valley was one of the first parts of the country given the chance to sign a Multi Area Agreement with the Government, enabling the Tees Valley local authorities – working with partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors – to speed up progress on key issues affecting all the sub-region.
A major task is planning with partners the arrangements as Tees Valley Unlimited prepares to absorb functions from Tees Valley Regeneration (TVR) from next April. TVR has contributed hugely to the area’s regeneration and Tees Valley Unlimited is determined to build on what has been achieved so far.
TVR has played a crucial role in creating additional interest in the Tees Valley from private sector investment and its successful inward investment arm will continue. Over the past year TVR has helped attract private sector investment to the area – more than £30m, bringing 600 new jobs and safeguarding 250 more.
The future looks even healthier, with potential capital expenditure of up to £5bn over the next three years, bringing 3,500 jobs.
It has also successfully worked closely with the local authorities and with One North East and the Homes and Communities Agency to transform investment interest into firm development agreements for key regeneration schemes.
These include Middlehaven in Middlesbrough, North Shore in Stockton Central Park in Darlington, Durham Tees Valley Airport and Victoria Harbour in Hartlepool.
Now the chance arises to bring together all the strands of activity, working to attract investment into the area – those in which TVR has been involved and the many other partnerships and projects – to produce a genuinely “joined up” approach that will turn ambitions for the Tees Valley into reality.
Hugh Lang chairs Tees Valley Unlimited, the Tees Valley partnership.
