Agenda item

Report of the Leader

The Leader introduced the report and explained that a range of partners had come together to start a conversation, called Gloucestershire 2050, to identify key challenges and explore ambitions and ideas that could shape the county’s long-term future. The consultation on this was open until the end of July 2018. Given the potential significance to Cheltenham’s future, and the fact that Council agreed a place vision for Cheltenham in March, Council was being asked to consider submitting a formal response to the consultation following agreement by the council’s political group leaders.

The Leader went on to say that it was important young people were included in the process and they had limited involvement to date. The projected net loss of young people from the county represented a risk and this risk should be assessed in any projects coming forward. Two reports were expected beyond 31 July, namely feedback from the consultation and the proposed delivery options. He believed it was essential that Gloucestershire 2050 partners spend more time on developing strategic outcomes prior to focussing on delivery vehicles.

He added that two Member seminars had taken place at CBC and partners around the town were being encouraged to feed in their thoughts to the process, including the Wilson Collective.

He very much welcomed the debate but believed that the ambitions should be turned into a wider vision for the county and then key projects should be identified with links to communities, not just infrastructure.

In terms of the specific proposals the Leader made the following comments :

·         Cyberpark- it was important that Cheltenham Borough Council helped make this happen

·         Supercity-this was a confusing name, what exactly was it? Rather than creating the idea of urban sprawl the idea of a green corridor separating the two urban areas should be pursued preserving the unique identities of communities within them albeit connected by transport and digital infrastructure facilitated by collaborative working.

·         Views of young people- affordable housing, fulfilling jobs and an exciting cultural offer. The Joint Core Strategy aimed to tackle affordable housing and jobs up until 2031 but improved transport infrastructure to include ideas such as light rail and better links to Bristol, London and Oxford as well as green corridors were also necessary

·         Cotswold international airport-a new airport was not really achievable and better linkages to the regional airports of Birmingham and Bristol should be investigated; Gloucestershire Airport should continue to be supported

Finally, the Leader explained that the aim was to achieve a broad consensus on how to take this forward and the intention was to agree the final wording of the draft with Group Leaders by the deadline of 31 July.

Members made the following points :

·         Young People- should be listened to as they may not say what is expected; concern over retaining them should not be so strong as living in a mobile society provides them with life experience which they could bring back to the area

·         Supercity- rather than merging the urban centres the focus should be on greater connectivity between them in terms of better public transport. A  light rail/tram system, would be supported and would connect the vast majority of people. Improving transport connections and links with other destinations such as Bristol, Birmingham and Oxford should also be promoted. The example of the Rotterdam-Den Haag model was highlighted with the relevant municipalities cooperating together on strategic issues. Transport provision should not be focussed on only one industry. Cycling provision was also key in terms of sustainable transport.

·         Cyberpark-this development had the capability of attracting inward investment and it was important to look wider than Gloucestershire as there was potential for an M5 corridor for cybersecurity.

·         Cotswold International Airport-reservations were expressed on this particularly bearing in mind the national strategy to expand regional airport capacity

·         Education-emphasis should be placed on working with educational institutions as the current disconnect between further education, higher education and business should be addressed in terms of offering courses relevant to the town. This should assist in retaining young people, ensuring economic development and small business growth. Engaging with schools, both primary and secondary was also recognised.

·         Culture was also recognised as an important economic driver.

·         Strategic alignment- project ideas should respect the agreed Joint Core Strategy development framework up to 2031;

In responding to comments the Leader agreed that the link between further education and higher education was key to ensuring that young people had the necessary skills for the jobs available. He made reference to the Gloucestershire Employment and Skills Board whose role was to give employers and education experts the opportunity to come together and shape skills across Gloucestershire.

Maximising the use of Gloucestershire Airport was recognised, particularly in relation to the Cyberpark whilst recognising its limited runway justifying better transport links to existing regional airports e.g. Bristol and Birmingham.

Recognising that urban sprawl to Gloucester was undesirable the Leader supported a significant development of a multi purpose crossing at Lydney Sharpness for both homes and employment which would take some pressure off Cheltenham.

It was an important aim to prevent the projected net loss of young people from the county and equally important that any suggested projects be measured against the actual likelihood of achieving that.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

1.    the Gloucestershire 2050 consultation be welcomed

2.    it be agreed that a response to the Gloucestershire 2050 consultation be submitted using the draft consultation response attached at appendix 3 as the starting point for the response.

3.    the Leader, in consultation with the two other political group leaders, be requested to agree the final wording of the response and to submit this response by 31 July 2018.