HCA to take on NWDA assets
ASSETS owned by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) are to be transferred to housing and regeneration quango the Homes and Communities Agency, the Government has announced.
The Government has refused to hand control of million pounds of assets to council or local enterprise partnership control.
Although the HCA will own the assets and liabilities, however, local authorities will still be able to be involved in decisions about their future development plans under a ‘stewardship’ model. The transfer is expected to go through on September 19.
The eight English RDAs are being wound up after the coalition government decided they should be replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) which launched in April. The RDAs will close by April 2012.
The NWDA has around 30 property assets including Lea Green Industrial Estate in St Helens, Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool and Manchester’s Ancoats Urban Village. The full list of RDA assets can be seen here: www.parliament.uk/deposits/depositedpapers/2010/DEP2010-1895.doc. In April it detailed the first seven properties to go on the market.
Business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk said: “The transfer of RDA land and property assets to the Homes and Communities Agency underlines our commitment to making sure these assets are used to support economic growth and regeneration.
“Through local enterprise partnerships, the Regional Growth Fund and Enterprise Zones, we are putting in place an efficient and locally driven model of regional economic development that ensures government support goes to where it can have most impact.”
