Working Together to Improve North Worcestershire
Plans to develop a new Economic Regeneration and Development
Strategy for North Worcestershire are being discussed by Wyre
Forest councillors next week.
A report to Wyre Forest District Council's Cabinet recommends
the authority works with partners in the north of the county to
develop a five year plan for regeneration. A North Worcestershire
Regeneration and Economic Development Strategy would give the north
of the County a more powerful collective voice in promoting
opportunities for new investment in the area as well as continuing
to promote the local distinctiveness of each of the areas.
The report will also be considered by the Shared Services Board
(Bromsgrove and Redditch Councils) on the same day, and will then
go to full Council at both councils for consideration.
The report recommends the Economic and Regeneration Teams from
Bromsgrove District Council, Redditch Borough Council and Wyre
Forest District Council merge to form a single service for North
Worcestershire. The proposal is that the merged team would be
hosted by Wyre Forest. It is not expected to lead to any reduction
in staffing, and there will be further consultation with staff and
unions before changes are implemented.
A council spokesperson said,
"Economic regeneration is a priority for each of the three
district councils. We all have small teams and the report
highlights that it would be beneficial to bring together our
resources. A joined up approach would enable resources to be
focused on key activities to make a real difference. It would
also give us a more powerful voice to have our position heard, for
example, when bidding for grants."
The proposals follow a report by Inspira Consulting, an
independent local regeneration company. This was commissioned
by the three councils to look into the viability of the idea.
It looked at the common economic elements between the areas,
whether there was stakeholder support for the idea as well as the
features of a joint strategy and how they would be delivered.
It found there was support from stakeholders who felt it would
assist in clarifying the priorities for the County as a
whole. The report also noted that the joint working would be
beneficial as it would make better use of the limited resources in
each district.
Each of the three councils will be considering whether to go
ahead with the recommendations in meetings during the next couple
of months. The report is due to be considered by Wyre Forest
District Council's Cabinet on 20th April 2010 before going to a
meeting of the full Council in May.
Date of Issue 13 April 2010
