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MINISTER
HAILS SEEDA'S CHATHAM MARITIME
AS "MODEL OF URBAN RENAISSANCE"
Highlighting
the area as "a model mixed development", Chatham Maritime
- the largest urban regeneration scheme outside London - was
the Government's South East launchpad for its Urban White Paper.
Launching
the Urban White Paper at Chatham Maritime, Minister for Education
& Employment, Malcolm Wicks, said that the regeneration
scheme by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)
"exemplified the Urban Renaissance and the principles expressed
in the White Paper."
He also
praised the partnership between SEEDA, Medway Council, the University
of Greenwich Medway Campus, local businesses and community organisations.
Viewing SEEDA's work in conserving and refurbishing historic
buildings, the Minister was able to see "regeneration in
action."
Conservation
led regeneration
The visit
included a tour of an Edwardian, Grade II listed building, the
Drill Hall, which SEEDA has started to refurbish to provide
an incubator centre for up to 30 business startups and small
firms. This and the construction of a new £22 million,
8,000m2 office complex, Pembroke Court, on an adjacent brownfield
site, were shown as examples of sustainable, conservation led
regeneration.
The White
Paper, entitled "Our towns and cities - the future",
sets out the Government's vision for "making towns and
cities attractive places in which to live and work." The
focus, said Mr Wicks, was on "improving the total quality
of life" in Britain's urban areas.
Accompanying
the Minister on his visit, the MP for Gillingham, Paul Clark,
said: "The Urban White Paper represents a massive vote
of confidence by the Government in what SEEDA is doing here
at Chatham Maritime, and across the region."
In the White
Paper, a leading role is envisaged for SEEDA and the other Regional
Development Agencies (RDAs) as "partnership brokers"
in all aspects of urban renewal, bringing together public, private
and voluntary sectors.
Welcoming
its publication, the Chief Executive of SEEDA, Anthony Dunnett,
said: "The White Paper provides a robust framework to transform
Britain's deprived areas and breathe new life into urban communities."
It closely
reflects SEEDA's goal of "building communities not just
building buildings", Mr Dunnett explained. "By regenerating
Chatham Maritime as a high-quality, mixed residential, commercial
and leisure development, we are helping to make it an accessible
and special place for people."
SEEDA, he
said, "has already been working on many of the issues raised
in the Urban White Paper, for example by working alongside local
authorities to identify suitable brownfield development sites
across the South East, creating a Land Assembly Trust, and by
establishing a Regional Design Panel comprising leading architects."
High
quality urban design
As well
as singling out Chatham Maritime as an example of high quality
urban design and landscaping, the White Paper features two of
SEEDA's region wide projects - Enterprise Hubs (business networks
that promote "clustering" of high value-added businesses)
and the South East Village (linking a wide range of voluntary
organisations) - as examples of Best Practice in economic development.
Mr Dunnett,
who is also a member of the Government's Urban Task Force and
the lead spokesman on urban regeneration for all the RDAs, explained
that RDAs would have an increasingly significant role as "catalysts"
in economic and social regeneration.
There are five elements, he said, to successful
regeneration:
- A framework
which brings in all the various elements, the physical as
well as the social, looking to the economic future of a community
not its past failures;
- Investment
in land, buildings and spaces;
- Skilled
people who are trained in this collaborative agenda and the
tools to help them unite the physical and the social;
- Streamlined
planning - which the Urban White Paper has gone some way to
delivering, and will also be influenced by the outcome of
the recent consultation on Compulsory Purchase Orders;
- Time
to make it happen. "Much of today's investment",
said Mr Dunnett, "will not see tangible results until
well into the next parliament. This is a long term issue and
shouldn't be held hostage by political expediency."
Mr Dunnett
added: "Regeneration needs tough minded people and consistent
delivery. It is not for the faint hearted or those looking for
quick wins. The biggest challenge, in creating the Urban Renaissance,
will be our ability to train up and skill sufficient people
to bring the needed investment to our towns and cities."
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