UK regeneration chief executive and former government adviser Jackie Sadek has been appointed chair of the Ipswich Vision project.
The urban regeneration expert will take up the role from 1 November and help steer the Suffolk town to recovery following the economic shock caused by Covid-19.
Her appointment follows the council’s publication last week of its five-year plan to regenerate Ipswich, with a pledge to spend up to £4m on transforming life in the town centre, alongside the £25m already committed through the government’s Town Deal programme.
Sadek will lead the initiative.
Terry Baxter, chair of Ipswich Central, the town’s Business Improvement District, said: “On behalf of town centre businesses, we offered to fund the appointment of a new vision chair on the clear understanding that it must be a proven urban regeneration expert who would help us to drive forward real change in Ipswich.
“We need someone who has done something on this scale before and who has the determination, the expertise, and the contacts to turn the Connected Town strategy into a reality. I am delighted that, in Jackie, we have found exactly that person.”
The Connected Town strategy seeks to turn undeveloped and underused buildings in the town centre into new homes, enabling more people to live centrally as a result.
Sadek said: “Real change is best delivered to places via an entrepreneurial approach alongside collaborative ways of working.
“The vision board in Ipswich has led the way on this, and it now has a hugely ambitious programme to create the Connected Town Centre. My priority as chair will be to publish a delivery plan early in the new year that will put into action the positive views received from businesses and residents. After that, we need to get on with delivering and we will be judged by outcomes.”
Sadek has been a fan of Ipwich for years, having declared in an EG column in 2015 following a visit as special adviser to Greg Clark, that the town was “hot. Seriously hot”.
Sadek will work alongside Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, New Anglia LEP, the University of Suffolk, All About Ipswich and Tom Hunt MP as part of Ipswich Vision.
Hunt said: “There is real determination amongst partners to deliver long-term improvement for the town centre. The government Town Deal money helps to kick-start revival, but we know that there is much more that we need to do beyond. I am really looking forward to working with Jackie and the other Vision members to bring forward those future priorities.”
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