Portsmouth city council plans to generate £1bn of investment over the next 12 years, creating 16,000 jobs and 5,000 additional homes. This will give the city’s economy a gigantic boost. The council envisages huge schemes such as the redevelopment of the rundown gateway-to-the-city area, a new city centre road and the transformation of the city centre retail and leisure area. Fine aspirations. But the council is determined that this vision for regeneration will become a reality. To achieve this we are pursuing a strategy with six key elements; we aim to: ? Deliver a clear picture of the development through a strong public/private partnership; Shaping Portsmouth, a group of major public and private employers brought together by the council, will use shared branding on projects to ensure the city embraces the regeneration vision. ? Present a transparent timeline of physical regeneration projects, because it is crucial that residents, businesses and investors understand clearly what will happen and when, if they are to buy in to the development plans. ? Use public sector assets to stimulate economic growth through a local asset-backed vehicle and tax increment financing. For the council, being innovative in order to generate income is nothing new. We already get a large part of our revenue from our ownership of the commercial port, in which we have invested heavily. Achieving a better return on our land holdings will not only help us to subsidise services – it will also directly boost the economy and create jobs. We will establish a vehicle in which we will work with a private sector partner to develop council property, bringing in a greater return than we could achieve on our own and, at the same time, removing a major bottleneck for investment. We have also developed a detailed tax increment financing business case and expect to be at the forefront of TIF implementation. In addition, we plan to make extensive use of the community infrastructure levy. ? Train local people to obtain the right skills for the jobs created by the regeneration projects. Too often in the past economic growth has not benefited people living in the city, so we are focusing on the benefits of regeneration for our community, helping to ensure enthusiasm for our vision. We will identify which jobs will be created and when, then tie them into a training commissioning model to ensure we have the right match between training providers and skills employers. A crucial plank of our strategy is raising educational standards. We are working with schools and colleges to ensure young people learn the skills we know they will need. ? Refresh our image and develop a marketing organisation to promote Portsmouth. This initiative will align public and private budgets to maximise the cityÕs marketing potential and help it to attract more investors, visitors and students. ? Inspire schoolchildren and teachers to learn about and take advantage of the real opportunities ahead. To this end, we are sending 100 “ambassadors” to schools, colleges and community groups, to ensure that the regeneration story is told. We will also make sure that the projects in the pipeline contribute to the delivery of our objectives. For example, new housing on formerly derelict land will provide homes for people working for new employers. In Portsmouth, we have a city and a council that are truly open for business. To find out the latest on our campaign, go to www.estatesgazette.com/building-a-better-britain
Portsmouth city council plans to generate £1bn of investment over the next 12 years, creating 16,000 jobs and 5,000 additional homes. This will give the city’s economy a gigantic boost. The council envisages huge schemes such as the redevelopment of the rundown gateway-to-the-city area, a new city centre road and the transformation of the city centre retail and leisure area. Fine aspirations. But the council is determined that this vision for regeneration will become a reality. To achieve this we are pursuing a strategy with six key elements; we aim to: ? Deliver a clear picture of the development through a strong public/private partnership; Shaping Portsmouth, a group of major public and private employers brought together by the council, will use shared branding on projects to ensure the city embraces the regeneration vision. ? Present a transparent timeline of physical regeneration projects, because it is crucial that residents, businesses and investors understand clearly what will happen and when, if they are to buy in to the development plans. ? Use public sector assets to stimulate economic growth through a local asset-backed vehicle and tax increment financing. For the council, being innovative in order to generate income is nothing new. We already get a large part of our revenue from our ownership of the commercial port, in which we have invested heavily. Achieving a better return on our land holdings will not only help us to subsidise services – it will also directly boost the economy and create jobs. We will establish a vehicle in which we will work with a private sector partner to develop council property, bringing in a greater return than we could achieve on our own and, at the same time, removing a major bottleneck for investment. We have also developed a detailed tax increment financing business case and expect to be at the forefront of TIF implementation. In addition, we plan to make extensive use of the community infrastructure levy. ? Train local people to obtain the right skills for the jobs created by the regeneration projects. Too often in the past economic growth has not benefited people living in the city, so we are focusing on the benefits of regeneration for our community, helping to ensure enthusiasm for our vision. We will identify which jobs will be created and when, then tie them into a training commissioning model to ensure we have the right match between training providers and skills employers. A crucial plank of our strategy is raising educational standards. We are working with schools and colleges to ensure young people learn the skills we know they will need. ? Refresh our image and develop a marketing organisation to promote Portsmouth. This initiative will align public and private budgets to maximise the cityÕs marketing potential and help it to attract more investors, visitors and students. ? Inspire schoolchildren and teachers to learn about and take advantage of the real opportunities ahead. To this end, we are sending 100 “ambassadors” to schools, colleges and community groups, to ensure that the regeneration story is told. We will also make sure that the projects in the pipeline contribute to the delivery of our objectives. For example, new housing on formerly derelict land will provide homes for people working for new employers. In Portsmouth, we have a city and a council that are truly open for business. To find out the latest on our campaign, go to www.estatesgazette.com/building-a-better-britain
