Government launches new approach to local regeneration

Published: 2009-05-26 10:33:16

CLG minister Hazel Blears outlined the government’s latest strategy for local regeneration in a speech on May 11th to the British Urban Regeneration Association conference in London.

More details also came with the publication by CLG of “Transforming Places Changing Lives”, a report laying out a new development framework for local authorities in England.

The new strategy seems to recognise that recession means large-scale physical projects are less likely to come to fruition and, instead, the emphasis should be on economic regeneration to maintain or boost employment. “There is limited demand for new office and retail space and few analysts envisage significant rental growth in the near future,” the report said. “Developers are finding it difficult to raise finance for their schemes. Landowners will be reluctant to release land.”

 

The government clearly hopes local authorities will fill the development gap and it will at last remove much of the ring-fencing attached to capital grants. The recent Budget also included a plan to allow investment in infrastructure to be partly financed by the enabling of an increased property tax base. This is fraught with potential pitfalls in the current property market, but the government intends to carry out pilot studies this summer.

 

Looking further ahead, CLG expects 80% of all English local authorities to have the key development planning documents for their new local development frameworks in place by early 2011. That is now less than two years away and could well prove an over-ambitious target for many authorities. To add to the workload, the new regeneration strategy encouraged groups of authorities and “city regions” to set up multi-area agreements to cover development across local government boundaries. In her speech, Blears said that “town halls, development agencies and regeneration firms are rich in the expertise and experience of dedicated men and women”. That dedication will be needed between now and 2011.

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