The current economic climate is doing little to help those families in the predominantly rural areas of the South West
who are looking for their first home. The challenge for planners and local policy-makers is to retain the skills of local people who grew up in the West Country, and at the same time provide for the needs of the many people who are predicted to want to settle in the region in the coming decades. Anthony Woodburn talks to Fliss Morey, Projects Director at Exeter and East Devon Growth Point, about the partnership’s ambitious development plans which are designed to tackle these issues
Growth Points is an example of a ‘bottom-up’ initiative, with the Government encouraging and supporting proposals from local partners. In 2006, 20 local authorities and partnerships were named as first round Growth Points, with a wide regional spread covering the east, south east and south west of England – including Exeter and East Devon, where the average house price is almost 15 times the average income. East Devon District Council (EDDC), which has long been aware that many of the district’s residents are on a low income, has more than 4,000 people on EDDC’s housing register looking for a home, and the council’s response has been to try and increase the amount of affordable housing as a matter of urgency. According to Fliss Morey, the priority is to attract public and private sector funding for new schemes that will leverage support to regenerate parts of the district’s ageing transport and employment infrastructure. A proposed new community of Cranbrook has been in East Devon’s long-term plans for many years and the council’s target for the delivery of affordable housing across the whole of this development is an ambitious 40%, with an integrated mix of housing throughout the site. Fliss Morey said: “From day one, the aspiration for the new community has been to build a self-sufficient, low-carbon community, together with skilled employment opportunities in close proximity to where the majority of the residents will be living and so promote sustainable modes of transport and reduce the need to travel by car.” “Cranbrook will have a cutting edge bus service and its own new railway station on the main line from Exeter to London Waterloo. Achieving such ambitious growth plans was never going to be easy, especially considering the state of the economy. However, East Devon District Council had entered in a partnership with Exeter City Council and Devon County Council under the Government’s Growth Point initiative, to deliver their vision of a complete sustainable package for economic growth.” Fliss explained: “Supported by the South West RDA and the Homes and Communities Agency, the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point recognise the need to deliver not just housing or indeed affordable housing but also to deliver the opportunity for residents to gain skilled employment.” Alongside the new community at Cranbrook, the Growth Point hopes to deliver Exeter Science Park, a world-class science park providing services for science and knowledge intensive firms, plus a business district of considerable size which is to be called Skypark. In addition to this, Exeter International Airport has plans for expansion which include a new terminal and they are supporting Flybe’s plans to build a £24 million Skills Academy. 
The public sector funding package that has been drawn together by the Growth Point Partners to help deliver these developments and the necessary infrastructure to support the growth is now more than £50 million. “During the initial phase of construction this could translate into 3,500 homes, 165,000m2 of employment land and 8,760 jobs. The investment by the private sector is now more than £520 million and, once complete, we anticipate £100 million added to the local GVA per annum. “The success in delivering this level of economic growth can be attributed to a number of key factors, such as East Devon’s proximity to Exeter; despite being a predominantly rural location, the growth area in East Devon is on the border with Exeter, which has been recognised as a City of Regional Significance. Fliss added: “Exeter’s emerging status as a science and knowledge-based city, coupled with a redeveloped retail centre, an international airport serving 50 destinations in 22 countries and a Top 10 ranked University, has no doubt added to the suitability of the growth area as a site for potential economic growth.” The key to its success, Fliss maintains, is working in partnership. “The formation of the local authority Growth Point Partnership has undoubtedly been the driving force that has brought these developments to a point where many of them are expected to begin construction work early next year.” LABC is also playing its part in helping to deliver the ambitious plans at Cranbrook as well as other regeneration projects in East Devon and Exeter. Fliss acknowledged the important role of building control in the design team and added: “We are pleased to be able to work with LABC.” For more details about LABC’s regeneration service, go to http://www.labc.uk.com/site/index.php |
