Thanet is already sparkling in the economic dawn that is the East Kent Growth Strategy.
Thanet was one of the six local authorities which, in Canterbury on
Thursday 14 February, agreed a new East Kent Strategy for Growth. This
is a long term strategy for integrating the infrastructure and
individual district investment plans of all the local authorities in the
area. It provides for a joined-up and cooperative opportunity to
deliver project priorities as the region forges its recovery.
East Kent is a location with real growth potential, and is now
attracting an increasing level of investment and national and
international interest. Thanet is a key partner in this and its
aspirations are wide ranging: even in Education the most recent figures
show that Thanet is second only to Canterbury (which, after all, has two
universities) in the proportion of staff working in this field.
Thanet is also second to Canterbury in the volume and spend of
international visitors. Margate has been voted a top tourist destination
and the specialist outlets in Margate’s Old Town have the opportunity
to benefit from the extra visitors who are guided through on their way
to Turner Contemporary. Ramsgate’s Marina is over-subscribed and the
Port is ideally placed for servicing the London Array windfarms.
Only Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks have a higher proportion
of staff involved in real estate activity – which must say something
about the amount of regeneration going on in Thanet!
Further evidence for the success of Thanet’s aspirational activity is
that, amongst its East Kent partners, the employment rate in Thanet has
risen from a poor starting point four years ago (63%) to match those of
Swale, Dover and Shepway, at just over 70%. This bucks the trend shown
by other parts of Kent where even Ashford, although still a high-flyer,
has fallen back from 80% to 76% during the same period.
In the East Kent Growth Strategy there are twelve spatial priorities
which are predicted to deliver up to 22,000 new jobs between them.
Furthermore, whilst Thanet is only one of six local authorities
involved, a full quarter of those priorities have been earned by the
district:
Margate-Cliftonville Regeneration
Ramsgate Port, Marina and Waterfront
Thanet Central Island/ Manston
Cllr Cive Hart, the Leader of Thanet District Council, said: “The
strategy is a tremendous opportunity for East Kent. It reflects and
builds on how the districts are working with each other, and with KCC,
to provide a joined-up approach. This structured cooperation will help
to attract large scale investment.
Thoughtful integration of the county’s infrastructure and
synchronisation of the enhancements of the best attributes of each
district will enable us to form a whole which is even greater than the
sum of its parts. This is a long term approach to ensure the best
possible outcomes for all of us. Thanet is already showing what can be
done, and we look forward to providing our partners with the benefit of
our experience, at the same time as learning from their successes.”
Friday, 22 February 2013
10 comments:
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Thoughtful integration of the county’s infrastructure and synchronisation of the enhancements of the best attributes of each district will enable us to form a whole which is even greater than the sum of its parts
ReplyDeleteApologies, half of above message disappeared!
ReplyDeleteOriginal said:
Did Clive Hart really say: "Thoughtful integration of the county’s infrastructure and synchronisation of the enhancements of the best attributes of each district will enable us to form a whole which is even greater than the sum of its parts."?
Fifty pounds says this guff was written by a PR person.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDecided, after all, not to humour he of the language of the gutter any longer by responding to his futile comments.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much public money has been spent on "regeneration" over the last 10 years? In my opinion, Councils have no direct place in the process of attracting industry/commerce to a region. This should be done by bodies created specifically for this purpose and having the knowledge and skills required to attract meaningful investment. At the moment we have a load of retired binmen blathering about industries they don't even begin to understand. The area needs an influx of high-tech, modern industries which can provide jobs for the brightest and best of our children. If you succeed in attracting the good stuff, all of the minimum wage cr*p; cleaning jobs and the like, will follow. What should the council be doing to attract high tech businesses? Well, they shouldn't be attending cocktails parties and freebies with other freeloaders. They should be working flat out to make sure that the area is clean and attractive with good schools and high quality amenities. They should be ensuring that there are readily available units on the business parks at competitive rates and that incoming businesses know what they will have to pay over the long-term. My final recommendation would be to do everything in your power to avoid any impression that the area is prone to corruption. Councillors who are shown to have acted inappropriately should be shown the door and there should be transparency over the council's dealings. You really don't want the kinds of businesses which are attracted by secrecy and double-dealing.
ReplyDeleteWow, you really know your stuff, 14:25. So another quango is the answer with yet another tier of overpaid experts. The only trouble is, if they are successful and bring in enough businesses for the area to flourish, they will be out of a job. So, like all the other quangos they will attend plenty of cocktail parties, but never achieve enough to make their own jobs redundant.
DeleteAnon 20:12, just because you are anonymous does not mean that your comments on EVERY Thanet blog are not instantly recognisable with your silly names for people and the excessive use of the word stupid. Why should I or anyone else start our own blogs when you seem to feel you have a right to invest everyone elses with your ill conceived opinions and rudeness.
DeleteWe had a quango in Thanet that poured millions into the area called SEEDA but in its place we have Kent CC and Essex CC in charge of allocating funds to the region. Making sure that the Thames Gateway area is prosperous is their aim and Thanet is bottom of the pile when cash is being spent.
DeleteWhat exactly did these millions from SEEDA buy us in Thanet, 12:00? I see no evidence of it and the jobs situation has been consistently bad for decades.
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