Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills
Minutes:
Decision – That the oral report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills giving an update on “Staffordshire Means Back to Business” activity including the following matters be noted:
· It is important that we acknowledge the localised difficulties the delivery of our Economic Strategy sometimes creates for communities who live near that investment activity. The Chatterley Valley employment site being one such scheme where the ongoing closure of Peacock Hay Road is causing difficulties for local road users. I would like to reassure Cabinet and of course the local population, that Officers are working hard with the developer Harworths, following their contractor Buckinghams going into administration, to find an urgent solution to this issue so that we can get the road back open. A further update will be broughtto the next Cabinet meeting. In the meantime, it is perhaps worth remembering that the scheme will unlock a 43-hectare employment site which will generate around 1,700 jobs, Gross Value-Added Benefits of £67 million per annum and £60 million of private sector investment. It will make a big impact but of course this doesn’t lessen the inconvenience currently being felt be the local road users.
· The Council is committed to not only creating opportunities for business start-up and grow on activity, but also supporting our major employers by securing the right infrastructure for Staffordshire’s needs while balancing the interests of businesses and local people
· We have always objected in principle to the impact that HS2 would have had on our rural communities and beautiful landscape. Following the Government’s announcement not to build the route north of Birmingham, we were pleased to see, through the Network North announcement, that funding will be provided for improvements to the A50/500 corridor between Stoke and Derby through Staffordshire, cutting congestion for the 90,000 drivers who use the road each day and ensuring smoother journeys for drivers and freight. We are awaiting the detail around this announcement.
· We have gathered a coalition of like-minded authorities along the A50 A500 corridor and have secured their support to press hard for further investment activity along his route to support our major manufacturers. The development of this programme will centre around deliverable decarbonisation and energy use including smart clusters considering new hydrogen applications, innovation, skills and enhanced technologies. This initiative representsperhaps the most ambitious economic opportunity in the Midlands and the North and will secure significant additional benefits for our County, in conjunction with delivering the promised route improvements.
· The Network North announcement also included investment in upgrading J15 of the M6 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, improvements to the A5 between Hinckley and Tamworth, the reopening of the Leek to Stoke railways line and the opening of the Ivanhoe Line between Burton and Leicester, currently only for freight, to passenger services. In addition to these announcements, we will be pushing government to provide further improvements to our infrastructure to support Staffordshire businesses, to attract further private sector investment and jobs to the county and to offset the impact the construction of Phase One of Hs2 has already had on the lives of local people and businesses.
· The National Memorial Arboretum has been named the Best UK Attraction at the 2023 Group Leisure & Travel Awards for the third consecutive year. These awards recognise the best providers, attractions and destinations for groups, with the winners voted for by readers of Group Leisure & Travel magazine. In gaining the Best UK Attraction award, the Arboretum triumphed over impressive competition from other major visitor destinations, including Windsor Castle, Longleat and Buckingham Palace. We are of course extremely proud to have the NMA which represents everything we know Staffordshire is.