Northern Powerhouse Yorkshire Leeds Event Speaking Henri Murison Partnership Rail Colin Bamford Judith Blae University Huddersfield

The north of England’s towns and cities have been urged to bury their parochial rivalries in order to reap the potential benefits of the Northern Powerhouse.

Chairing our West Yorkshire Economic Growth Conference, University of Huddersfield Emeritus Professor Colin Bamford raised concerns that smaller towns and cities in west Yorkshire will be left with the ‘scraps’ from the initiative. He said: “A lot of empirical evidence suggests that Leeds is going to gain a lot more from the Northern Powerhouse than for example Huddersfield or Dewsbury and that it will boost Leeds to the detriment of other places.”

But Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, countered that investment in transport links between the region’s major cities would deliver economic benefits across West Yorkshire.
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Pointing to the electrification of the rail line between Huddersfield to Leeds, which is planned as part of the broader Transpennine line upgrade, he said: “Nobody would spend billions just giving people from Huddersfield to Leeds a better train line. It’s good idea, but the economic rationale for making that a national priority is that it benefits the whole of the north. It’s a mistake to keep thinking that we are competing against each other. Local town pride in a football team is a great way to demonstrate pride in your place, but don’t treat your local economy like your football team.”

Cities are drivers for the wider regional economy, Murison said: “Leeds’ footprint is significantly different to just the city: most people who work in Leeds don’t live in Leeds. Leeds city-region already works as an identifiable economic footprint. Give it 20 years and the North of England will be the mega city with an identity on the global stage, but that won’t reduce pride in football teams and towns.”

And the delivery of the Northern Powerhouse rail plans, which will involve a mix of new lines and upgrades to existing ones, will increase access to the jobs and opportunities offered by Leeds, he said: “If you can unlock that you will find that what benefits Bradford benefits Huddersfield.  He said: “That currently isn’t true because connectivity doesn’t allow that. You won’t have to compete any more because you can genuinely collaborate.”

And while expressing confidence that cities like Bradford could succeed on their own, he said they were more likely to grow as part of a larger and more joined-up economic unit.

The existence of economic “cold spots” is a “huge barrier” to the growth of the wider region, Murison said: “In some communities of the north, your future is lot more positive than in others. It’s economically necessary to ensure that the north as a whole benefits from the opportunities that are there. If we can’t rebalance the country and get the productivity improvements we need, we won’t have the money to invest in the social and physical infrastructure.”

Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said the level of animosity between west Yorkshire communities had been ‘striking’ before the establishment of the combined authority. But collaboration had improved, she said: “There’s a real recognition that we are all in this together and that it is something we should celebrate.”

“The argument for Transport for the North isn’t just an argument for Leeds: it will bring benefits for all of us.”

And the north’s leaders had ensured that the region’s transport issues are on Whitehall’s agenda, said Blake: “The DfT (Department for Transport) now knows where the north is now: we are making so much noise that they are taking note.”

But she added more work was needed to ensure national decision makers understand the economic benefits that transport investment could deliver in the north: “We have to get the government to understand the potential of the transport improvements.”

The nature of the public transport system in Leeds means that the city is particularly reliant on national investment in the rail network, said Murison: “Leeds has a particular economy and a larger travel to work area and it is particularly dependent on heavy rail, which is a toxic mix if the national system doesn’t deliver what you need for local growth. IIf we don’t have more east-west tracking in Leeds, no one in the north east will benefit. Our stations are pretty much groaning. We need huge growth in public transport if we are to keep our cities moving.”

Blake also warned about the risk of depressed areas, like parts of West Yorkshire, losing access to EU regional fund following Brexit. She said: “The biggest fear is that money get repatriated to Whitehall and gets farmed out on most unfair funding formula and people in our communities will suffer even more from that loss of money coming in.”
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