Mid-Warwickshire businesses have been brought up-to-date with two major projects that could provide a significant boost to the regional economy.
Bill Hunt, the deputy chief executive of Warwick District Council and a key figure within the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), presented to the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s Mid-Warwickshire branch committee at the Holiday Inn in Kenilworth.
He outlined the latest draft of Warwick District Council’s local plan, which proposes to provide 12,300 new homes over the next 15 years – 6,630 of which can only be accommodated on new ‘greenfield’ sites – 22.5 hectares of new employment land and also new infrastructure across the area.
Hunt then gave the gathered businesses a run down on the CWLEP’s City Deal submission, which focuses on the advanced manufacturing and engineering (AME) sector and its growth.
The idea behind Government’s City Deal project is to allow regions to lever in more powers and pool funding to concentrate on breaking down barriers to one area of economic growth.
Hunt said: “The Local Plan is crucial and, without it, we have no strategy for development or growth.
“We have opted for a growth-led strategy that will bring new jobs and, therefore, new homes to the district.
“Our City Deal bid is called Re-engineering Engineering and we want to tackle the issues that prevent some of the small and medium sized companies in that sector growing.”
Sophie Howe, mid-Warwickshire branch chair of the Chamber, said: “We were delighted to welcome Bill Hunt because there is a great deal of interest around both the LEP, including City Deal, and the local plan.
“He gave a great outline to both and we would urge all businesses in the region to find out more about the local plan and to make comment before July 29.
“One of the points raised around the City Deal was support available for business and the fact that some companies didn’t know where to go for help.
“For all businesses across this area, the ‘go to’ place for any form of business support is the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber offers a raft of support itself but can also signpost companies to other organisations if they require more specialist help.”
For more information on the Local Plan or to comment on it log on to www.warwickdc.gov.uk/newlocalplan
