Glasgow City Council has said the next generation of transport plans being devised by the Scottish Government are expected to investigate how to boost regional connectivity and local economies.

Speaking at our conference in Glasgow, Carol Connelly – Head of City Deal at the Council, said the new National Planning Framework, which is working its way through the Scottish Parliament, should help solve issues such as troubled transport links from Glasgow Airport to the city centre.
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She said: “We’re on the cusp of a new set of plans if you like between the planning bill which is going through parliament, and the strategic transport review, and finally the national planning framework version 4. The NPF 3 had an awful lot of connectivity between places, the M73, M74 and M80, what you are going to see if that the big connecting infrastructure is either done, underway or planned.

“The next iteration (of the NPF) is taking it down a level, look at what is the connectivity like within a region, for example within the entire eastern corridor of Scotland, or it will take it down to a level of a city region or local authority. It’s a balance of the two but a lot of the economic benefit particularly for those regions who are less developed, the benefit can be from connecting Fort William and Oban, instead of connecting both to Glasgow.”

Connelly’s comments come as Members of the Scottish Parliament urged the Scottish Government to press ahead with the new airport link, which forms part of the £1.3bn Glasgow City Region deal agreed in 2014. The link had initially been due to begin construction in 2022, and be completed in 2025 however a report in 2017 outlined capacity issues with the project.

She also confirmed that all projects initially earmarked for development within the City Deal had either begun or were in active planning phases: “There was a lot of discussion about projects at the time the City Deal was signed. All the projects we’re working on are moving, they are in development, are out to tender, or site investigations are being undertaken.”

Of the 27 projects outlined in the City Deal, six main projects and five sub-projects were completed by the end of 2018.

Connolly noted that projects picked in the City Deal had been chosen because they were previously held back by either cost concerns or other complications: “The projects that were picked at the time were picked because they were prohibitive (in cost) or had development issues or constraints that other areas did not have. The City Deal is starting to deliver on that.”

The council is also working on a new residential strategy to focus on how to promote Glasgow’s inner city living, including the Waterfront project connected to the West End and city centre: “In some areas we’re looking at its about opportunities – creating the open space within the city centre itself. The masterplan is critically important to that.”

The review of the City Deal comes as the Scottish Government begins focussing its policy on attracting foreign investment into the country after the UK’s exit from the EU.

Kal Feldinger and the Panel at Glasgow Development Plans 2019

Head of Investment for the Scottish Government Kate Feldinger told delegates that a pro-active policy from the Scottish Government was key to managing any uncertainty over the future UK economy, including the outcome of the EU Brexit negotiations.

The Government has begun compiling and promoting a pitchbook of opportunities similar to that produced for the Northern Powerhouse for foreign investors to consider: “We are going to be doing an awful lot of running to stand still over the next two years, and we can’t afford to pretend that the performance that we enjoy at the moment will continue unless we change our policy response.

The conference also hear how the Scottish Government has begun looking at working more closely with regional partners for future projects.

Murray Collins, Managing Director of Fusion Assets, told delegates that the body, which was formed as a special purpose delivery vehicle by North Lanarkshire Council, has been in talks with the Scottish Government: “Beyond development projects we’re working with the Government to see if we can roll out the fusion asset development model to other parts of the country.”

Established following the closure of Boot’s manufacturing operation in Airdrie, Fusion Assets manages projects across Lanarkshire including Lanarkshire Enterprise Park, Dundyvan Enterprise Park, the Western Campus at Strathclyde Business Park and Gartcosh Industrial Park.

Murray added: “The hope is that in the future we will see more developments coming through based on joint venture partnerships with the public sector and making use of grant funding and private funding.”

The Crowd at Glasgow Development Plans 2019
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