The latest Regional Economic Strategy, ‘Connecting to Success’, was published by Advantage West Midlands at the end of 2007.

It sets out a vision for the economic future of the region in a strategy based on Business, Place and People. We welcome the increased emphasis in the strategy on environmental protection, and tackling Climate Change, but we are concerned that this feeds down to individual actions.

We are particularly concerned that the mainstreaming of Rural Renaissance in the new strategy is followed through in all policy areas and there is support for a holistic approach to addressing the needs of rural areas which takes full account of social issues and landscape and tranquillity.

Further direction is given to the strategy by the identification of five Urban Regeneration Zones and one Rural Regeneration Zone, supplemented by three High Technology Corridors.

CPRE WM supports this approach, although we are concerned that industrial and other development in the Rural Regeneration Zone is appropriate in size and scale for the countryside and that in the High Technology Corridors industrial development does not sprawl into the countryside but is centred on urban nodes.

We need to provide sufficient land for industry but new industries do not generally need as much land and so we support excess redundant land being reused for housing.

We are particularly concerned about the potential impact of large new business parks (Regional Investment Sites) and megadepots (Regional Logistics Sites). Where these are needed we would like to see them developed on brownfield sites.

The Future

The Sub-National Review would result in the abolition of the Regional Assembly in 2010 and development of a shorter Single Regional Strategy, perhaps with sister documents, which would replace the Regional Spatial Strategy and the Regional Economic Strategy. How this would be prepared, how long it would be and its emphasis are as yet unclear.
The Conservatives are committed to abolishing regional strategies, but this would involve primary legislation so we are as yet unsure what would be in place in the interim should they win the General Election

17.07.09