Argent, Legal & General and Grosvenor are among 24 investors and developers backing a new manifesto for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
The Radical Regeneration manifesto, launched by property consultant Bidwells alongside Perkins & Will and Blackstock Consulting, outlines several key recommendations to regenerate the area.
Patrick McMahon, senior partner at Bidwells, said: “We’ve launched this manifesto to highlight the need to tap into the different expertise that the public and private sectors possess at a time when it’s crucial.”
The arc – or “brain belt” – covers 22 council districts. With its positioning as a regional hub for life sciences and artificial intelligence businesses, it is a prospective major driver for growth in the UK.
But Brexit uncertainty and development deadlock could jeopardise the economic growth within the region, an area that generates an annual GVA, the total value of goods and services produced in the region, of £100bn. This figure is more than Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol combined.
The pace of local economic growth has more than halved since the Brexit vote in 2016, with annual growth in GVA falling from 2.7% in 2015 to 1% in 2018, according to research from Bidwells.
The manifesto warns the region’s research and development and tech sectors are highly dependent on business investments, which have dipped sharply.
In addition, in areas such as Cambridge (pictured), where office and labs rent has jumped by 12% in the past year alone, there is a real threat that start-ups, unicorns and talent could be priced out, says Bidwells.
The manifesto sets out 16 policy recommendations to radically overhaul how the public and private sector deliver housing, workspace, and infrastructure within the arc.
The recommendations include creating a singular body, like the Olympic Delivery Authority, to fast-track key development across the arc and the implementation of fixed regulation that mandates zero-carbon, and ideally, carbon-negative, development.
The manifesto also calls for a strategic planning authority along the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
Mike Derbyshire, head of planning at Bidwells, said: “That authority needs checks and balances, but also the political freedom to make honest decisions, with defined executive powers like London and the powers to approve or refuse development.”
Contributors in full
- Apache Capital
- Argent
- Barratt Developments
- Legal & General
- Grosvenor
- Bruntwood
- Countryside
- Creative Places
- First Base
- L&Q
- Local Data Company
- MEPC
- Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association
- Moda Living
- Nelson Nygaard
- Oxford Sciences Innovation
- Urban Splash
- Oxford University Innovation
- Mayo Clinic Healthcare in partnership with Oxford University Clinic
- Rowan Asset Management
- Urban Catalyst
- ilke Homes
- Innerspace
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