The Thames Gateway:

still needed, but still a

government priority?

Ros DunnChief ExecutiveThames Gateway London Partnership7 March 2011

My talk today

• Some history

• Some lessons from history

• The Thames Gateway today..........

• .........and tomorrow?

What/where is the Thames Gateway?

The Thames Gateway boundary captures 4000 hectares of brownfield development sites

Some history• The London Docks took a heavy beating during WW2

and by the 1970s the Docklands and east London fell into decline due to a mixture of de-industrialisation and migration out of the area to Essex and Kent.

• The creation of the London Docklands Development Corporation was a catalyst for the regeneration of London Docklands and the re-development of the Isle of Dogs.

• New transport links such as the DLR and the Jubilee underground line extension acted as a further catalyst for change.

Some history contd

• By the 1990s the focus moved from Docklands to the wider Thames Gateway, which became an area earmarked for significant housing growth and development due to the availability of brownfield land and the potential to develop the transport system.

• Regeneration was further boosted following the successful bid for the Olympic and Paralympics Games in 2012.

• Sir Terry Farrell set out his vision for the Thames Gateway based on sustainable growth.

Timeline of developments in the Thames Gateway (how the policy makers saw it)

LDDC established 1980

1990

East Thames Corridor concept

Thames Gateway Planning

Framework (RPG 9A)

1995

Localism Bill

2011

Formation of Thames Gateway Strategic

Partnership

2002

1997 Election of

Labour Government

LDDC ceases

operation

1998

2000

Establishment of GLA and

elected Mayor of London

2003

Designation of growth

area status to Thames Gateway

(sustainable communities

plan)

2010

Sir Terry Farrell’s Thames Gateway

Core Vision

Draft Replacement London Plan

2003

Election of Conservative

Liberal Democrat Coalition

government

2010

2011

Decision to create London

wide LEP and work through TGSG

Timeline of Developments in the London Thames Gateway (what actually happened)

• 1981 – Creation of the London Docklands Development Corporation

• 1982 – Designation as an Enterprise Zone• 1987 – Docklands Light Railway opened• 1987 – London City Airport Opened• 1991 – Completion of One Canada Square • 1999 – Jubilee Line extension• 2000 – ExCeL, Millennium Dome opened• 2001 – Canary Wharf Tower• 2005 – London wins Olympic Bid at Stratford• 2007 – Development of Stratford City begins• 2009 – Construction on Crossrail begins

Successes – Transport

• Construction of DLR and extension to Lewisham and Woolwich

• Extension of the Jubilee line

• Construction of London City Airport

• East London Line extension

• Construction of Stratford International and High Speed 1 +2

• Crossrail

Successes – Canary Wharf

• Former West India Docks that fell into decline redeveloped as Canary Wharf

• The creation of the enterprise zone and new transport links to central London helped attract inward investment.

• Currently the location of many of the headquarters of global financial corporations.

• Significant in maintaining London position as a key European and Global financial centre.

Successes – Greenwich Peninsula

• Former location of gasworks and power stations.

• Regeneration stimulated by the construction of the Millennium Dome and Jubilee Line.

• Development of the O2 as the premier entertainment venue of Europe.

• New facilities such as Ravensbourne College and plans for an urban cable car.

What can we learn from the past?

• Critical success factors

Michael HeseltineJohn PrescottKen/Boris

MoneyControl

Yes, but……• Winning formula for big ticket items (Jubilee line,

CTRL,DLR, City Airport etc)

• But was it so good for social and economic regeneration which benefits our residents?

.......and anyway

• The coalition government is promoting localism, not top down central control

• Money is scarce

Challenges remain in the London Thames Gateway and beyond

A relatively young and growing population, need to create more affordable and sustainable neighbourhoods

Unemployment• While unemployment

has fallen dramatically over the last 20 years...

• ...the resident participation rate is lower in inner east London

• Employment remains in low skilled sectors rather than high growth knowledge sectors.

• Long term growth held back by structural unemployment

Skills • Major problem of lack of

necessary skills in the LTG.

• Big risk of residents not benefiting from economic development. egTower Hamlets.

• Labour market is less flexible due to lack of appropriate skills required by new economy

Deprivation• The Index of Multiple

Deprivation average SOA score for Hackney is 46.10 more than double the English average of 21.57.

• Double whammy - lower skilled residents experience greater competition for jobs and poverty trap acts as a barrier to participation in Labour Market (wages too low to compensate for withdrawal of social benefits).

• Among the core determinants are the high crime rates and the poor quality of housing.

Public Sector Dependence

• East London’s Public to Private Sector Employment Ratio is 30:70 greater than both the London and National averages.

• There is great variation across the sub region.

• Lewisham, Newham and Greenwich have among the highest rate of public sector employment nationally.

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Proportion ofemployment in Privatesectors 2009

Proportion ofemployment in Publ icServices sectors 2009

To sum up

• The Thames Gateway has been transformed over the last 30 years

• But the regeneration of the Thames Gateway (the “coordinated process of reversing physical, economic and social decline where market forces will not do this without intervention”) still has a long way to go

The London Thames Gateway’s potential...

What’s next?• The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition

Government supports the Thames Gateway

We are the only area in the country to have a Thames Gateway Minister (Bob Neill MP)

Consistently with the Government’s approach to localism and foreshadowed in the Growth White Paper, a new Thames Gateway Strategic Group (TGSG) has been created; locally led, with the Minister in attendance

The Government has explicitly said that it supports the Farrell core vision

but........

The Government is seeking to achieve a “relative regional effect”, which involves rebalancing the economy through supporting the rest of the country excluding the Greater South East (which includes the Thames Gateway, poorer that many parts of the rest of the country)

Debating the national insurance holiday......

In replying to the amendment, Commercial Secretary to the Treasury Lord Sassoon said, "This measure does need to be targeted. It cannot be targeted in a way that picks out pockets of deprivation-of which there are a significant number in London and elsewhere. However, the basis on which we came up with the holiday includes a relative regional effect. Of course, if we were to sweep away all the geographic exclusions, the thrust of the holiday, which will be to have a relative regional effect, would disappear."

Enterprise Zones?

You heard it here first....

“The enterprise zone plan - which will cost £100m over four years - is a scaled down version of one of Margaret Thatcher's most high-profile policies from the 1980s...... They will be established in areas of England that have been hit hard by the economic downturn - mainly in parts of the Midlands and the North....... Firms will be offered reduced business rates, simplified planning rules and less regulation.......the zones would be "in parts of Britain that have missed out in the last 10 years........ They will be the places in our land with great potential - but which need that extra push from government and local communities working together.“

Courtesy of BBC News

Unintended consequences of policy reforms? Housing

• Potential migration of households from central and inner to outer east London due to housing benefit changes.

• But cuts in social housing budget will reduce capacity to accommodate growth.

• New Affordable Rents scheme could have significant impact by unlocking new investment model for housing provision

• New private sector housing still out of reach for many

Source: Shelter

Our case should be heard• TGSG (supported by the Government) has argued for a new

initiative, the creation of a Thames Gateway Economic Zone• Parts of the Gateway are as in need of support as the rest of the

country, in some parts the need is greater (Newham vs Macclesfield)

• We are particularly vulnerable to the impact of other policy reforms ie welfare reforms

So

• Some of it is about tackling need• But it is also about capitalising on opportunity• Remember, the Thames Gateway is a growth area, and the UK

needs it to work!

The case for the London Thames Gateway as a growth pole; the Knowledge Economy

• Home to 8 leading universities.

• Specialist facilities in key fields: broadcasting (Ravensbourne), digital manufacturing (London Met) virtual prototyping (Greenwich)

• Tech City in Shoreditch, Media Centre in the Olympic Park and Digital Peninsula in Greenwich

We’re hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games

• New transport links – DLR and Stratford International• Lasting development of new urban landscape, public

facilities and new homes. • Stratford City development – largest shopping centre in

Europe• Creation of new university and legacy of Olympic

sporting facilities.

Our location and links

• Identified by the government and the London Plan as a growth corridor includes opportunity areas.

• Attractive location for investment - low land values and great connections to central London.

• International links – HS1, Links to Europe, London City Airport and London Gateway port.

Young Population

• The average age in east London is 35.34.

• Should provide a dynamic and flexible labour market.

• An entrepreneurial culture – a spur to innovation and new business formation.

High Business Start-ups

• New business formation rate in London East is 16.30% - very high by national standards.

• The top 4 districts on business and enterprise are from East London.

Digital Economy

• Prime ministerial support for the development of Tech City between Shoreditch and Stratford.

• Universities working with businesses to capitalise on innovations.

• Major investors already locating – Google, Cisco, Intel.

Proportion of employment in Knowledge-driven sectors 2009

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Proportion of employmentin Knowledge-drivensectors 2009

To sum up (again...)• The Thames Gateway is 30 years in to a 70 year regeneration

project

• Lots has already happened, there is massive growth potential, but now is not the time to assume it’s all OK

• The successes of the past can’t (and won’t) be the guide to future delivery arrangements

• Government support very welcome (national and regional) and not surprising; the UK economy needs the Gateway!

• But please can it be consistent? Support us in deeds as well as words.....

Thank you