Yorkshire backlash over think tank’s report

MEMBERS of Yorkshire’s business community have hit back at a controversial report which suggested that northern cities are a ‘lost cause’ and residents should move south to avoid becoming trapped in poor areas.

TheBusinessDesk.com was inundated with comments from infuriated readers who questioned the validity of the findings, which were published this week.

The controversial report by Policy Exchange said the regeneration of many towns and cities in the north was doomed to fail and residents should consider relocating to cities including Oxford and Cambridge which would become economic powerhouses.

Read TheBusinessDesk.com’s story on the report by clicking the following link: http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/4191-northern-cities-a-lost-cause-says-report.html?news_section=5

TheBusinessDesk.com contacted various regional business figures to ask for their thoughts on the report which cited Bradford and Hull as examples of cities “beyond revival”, and their responses were unequivocal in their dismissal of the claims:

Maud Marshall, chief executive of Bradford Centre Regeneration:

“The Policy Exchange report demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of what is happening in Bradford.

“Bradford is only five years into its regeneration programme and already it is the UK’s third fastest growing major city after Manchester and London with a current annual population growth of 0.8% – twice the national rate. It also continues to buck the national trend in that it is getting younger, with the third largest youth population in the country.

“District wide there is a £3bn regeneration programme taking place, one of the most ambitious schemes in the country, and it is also home to some of the UK’s leading businesses, including Morrisons PLC, Abbey National, Kelda Group, Bradford and Bingley and Provident Financial.

“The city was also recognised by the Financial Times in the 2008/9 European Cities of the Future Report where it was ranked as the sixth best Small European City for Foreign Direct Investment, one place behind Cambridge and three places higher than Oxford.”

John Holmes, chief executive, Hull Forward:

“Hull’s economic performance is strengthening and the city is harnessing its key strengths in the sectors of healthcare technologies, renewable energy and ports and value added logistics to compete as a truly global economic player.

“The pace of change in Hull is astonishing. The public sector has invested about £120m over the last five or six years within the major regeneration sites such as Humber Quays, St Stephens, Quay West and The Boom, which has levered around three-quarter of a billion pounds worth of private sector commitments.

“Hull’s flagship £200m St Stephen’s development, which opened in September 2007 has been a key milestone in Hull’s regeneration, so far providing 1,268 new jobs, 30% of which were for people previously unemployed.

“A connected £18m state of the art transport interchange, Paragon Interchange, is also now fully operational and delivers 24,000 people daily to the doors of St Stephen’s.

“The new waterfront business district Humber Quays is rapidly taking shape and is now home to World Trade Centre Hull & Humber, The Royal Bank of Scotland and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“Bold and exciting designs for the £65m first phase of The Boom complex on the East Bank of the River Hull have also been approved and feature 400 apartments alongside offices, retail and leisure outlets, a 136-bed Premier Inn hotel and an iconic footbridge.

“The fully extended £300m Quay West scheme is programmed to be open for business in 2013 and will create 3,000 new jobs.

“We have come a long way, but there’s much more to do to achieve the economic step change that will transform Hull into a global economic player.”

Ian Williams, policy director of Leeds Chamber of Commerce:

“While controversial, we acknowledge this report does highlight that there is still room for improvement in northern cities.

However these northern cities are not helped when central Government is not committed to spending on improving both transport and infrastructure, so it’s not a level playing field and the north is not able to compete with the south.

If we look at Leeds specifically, which was highlighted as one of the prosperous cities within the report, we have motored ahead in the last 10 years and you only need to look at the city skyline as proof.

In addition we are filling our offices as in the last 10 years 59,000 new jobs have been created, and over the next decade the city is expected to generate 24% of employment growth in the region. In addition, as one of the core UK cities, the estimated value of our city’s economy is over £13bn; this is forecast to grow to £17bn by 2016.

So Leeds is actually in a good position. And even with the recent talk of recession we still have businesses speaking with us on a daily basis, outlining that they are performing well in the current economic climate, and lot of this is down to the diverse economic base Leeds has. “

Julian D’Arcy, partner and head of residential development in the north of England at property consultancy Knight Frank:

“This is a deeply flawed and patronising report.

It assumes that people can’t make a decision for themselves on where they want to live and it forgets the fact that people bring prosperity to an area.

It is also Southern-centric and completely ignores the fantastic quality of life that is enjoyed in the north of England.

It reads as though it has been compiled without any thought or understanding which implies that the authors simply have not done their research properly.

Let’s take Bradford, for example.

This historic city is currently undergoing a radical transformation and has just been named amongst the best small cities in Europe for attracting inward investment, beating places such as Antwerp, the diamond capitol of the world, and the dreaming spires of Oxford.

The city centre is undergoing a £2bn renaissance, based on an ambitious Masterplan, created by world-renowned architect Will Alsop.

This extensive regeneration programme builds on Bradford’s strong heritage to create a booming 21st century city with a unique identity.

With confidence in the city rising rapidly, Bradford offers a wealth of strong investment opportunities.

This pitiful report completes ignores all this.”

Jan Anderson, executive director of environment for Yorkshire Forward:

“It’s a shame that the Policy Exchange has chosen to promote their work on such an important topic in such an emotive way.

Moving one million people to London is not the answer to a successful country or to a successful diverse economy.

The logical extension of the argument that people should move to where the market operates most successfully means that we should all decamp to China.

Yes, clearly there is room for quality debate on policy options for creating quality places (of which economic performance is part), and yes, not all past and current policies achieve what they set out to achieve.

But let’s have a quality debate, not one written for media headlines.”

Councillor Andrew Carter, Leeds City Council executive member with responsibility for development:

“The recent Cities Unlimited report by the Policy Exchange think tank simply shows how much we have to do to change the attitudes of people in the south rather than our approach to regeneration of the cities in the north.

To suggest that there has been no progress in the regeneration of northern cities over the last 30 years is particularly ill informed.

Leeds alone has generated £3.5bn worth of investment in completed major regeneration and development schemes over the last 10 years.

The city has a buoyant and diverse economy which accounted for almost 27% of the 423,000 jobs created in the Yorkshire region over the last 20 years.

The renaissance of Leeds has been further bolstered through close collaboration between the public and private sector to drive forward major regeneration schemes such as Holbeck Urban Village, Aire Valley and West End Leeds.

The city’s economy is expected to grow by 28.8% in the next decade, ahead of projected economic growth for the UK as a whole.

Despite this misguided report we will continue to deliver programmes that bring prosperity to Leeds and the wider city region.

We have a policy in Leeds that no-one is left behind. It is a pity that the ill-informed writers of this report do not share this view.

This think tank seems to be comprised of ‘a bunch of young oiks’ whose ignorance of regeneration is breathtaking.”

Jeff Pearey, head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Leeds office:

“On the one hand the think tank report seems to be suggesting we turn our backs on centuries of history and cultural development and, on the other, it just seems to be a provocative statement from authors who appear to have a lack of understanding of regional economies.

I have little doubt that the fundamental outcome of this report will simply cause consternation and broaden the ignorance that exists about regeneration in the north.

The likes of Hull and Sunderland have undoubtedly suffered following the decline of the ship building industry but equally have made phenomenal strides in the last 20 years, sometimes assisted by government policy and sometimes driven simply by the ambition and grit of local people.

To say their policies have failed is grossly unfair.

The rate of growth in our Yorkshire towns and cities may have been slower but the improvements in the fabric of each are tangible and self evident as any visitor will see.

That new towns should be strapped to the sides of existing cities such as Cambridge or Oxford, as the report suggests, misses the point.

Regeneration in the north is not doomed to failure as this new report suggests.

The fact that New Towns have had a history of taking years to succeed and become genuine settlements in their own right is well documented.

Regeneration of our towns and cities does throw up a number of challenges but clearly investment has been, and still is, very worthwhile.”

David Codling, director in the regeneration team of CB Richard Ellis in Leeds:

“The report basically implies that as a consequence of geography, cities such as Sunderland, Liverpool and Bradford are essentially beyond help and should be written off in favour of mass migration to the South East.
 
It may come as a surprise that people actually want to live in the north and indulging in a 21st century version of the highland clearances is pretty irresponsible. 
 
Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle (to name but three) have proven how traditional economies can evolve to provide people and communities with wealth and prosperity.

Leeds for example is the biggest financial centre outside of London and has proved adept at attracting companies out of the capital by providing a lower cost base and a better quality of life for highly skilled professionals. 

I doubt these highly mobile and affluent workers would prefer to live in an overcrowded new town ghetto with creaking infrastructure to a life on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.
 
It may come as a shock to the authors that we all don’t live in terraced houses off cobbled streets and that people may not want either more debt or extra space. 
 
Much work needs to be done to manage the process of change but Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester and Newcastle show that there is no such thing as a hopeless case.

Clever investors know this and will exploit the potentially greater return to be made when these places undoubtedly recover – it’s simply a case of when rather than never. This report needs to be retracted as quickly as possible.”