Introduction
West Cumbria Strategic Forum have commissioned the development of a Spatial Masterplan to identify transformational projects and initiatives to underpin the economic, social and environmental well-being of West Cumbria.
Central Government has asked West Cumbria to set out its plan for the future. In response, the master plan has been commissioned by Cumbria Vision on behalf of the West Cumbria Strategic Partners. The plan is funded in part by West Lakes Renaissance, Cumbria Vision (through the North West Development Agency) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
The creation of the master plan is being led by Grant Thornton and its partners, which include Experian Business Strategies, Steer Davies Gleave, Lumis, the Leisure and Tourism Organisation and Quo-Tec.
The delivery of this plan will require the commitment of the local community, as well as coordinated action from key bodies including local authorities (Copeland and Allerdale), regeneration, business and community organisations, the County Council, the North West Development Agency and the Government Office North West.
The Masterplan
The Masterplan was initiated in response to the announcement of Nuclear decommissioning and the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority with its headquarters in West Cumbria. These changes present numerous challenges and new opportunities for the area. The Masterplan is designed to ensure that the area is ready to grasp the opportunities offered by decommissioning and ensure that the local economy successfully adapts to the decline in employment at the Sellafield site. Furthermore, the Masterplan is designed to inform Government thinking on investments within the West Cumbria across the public sector.
Why a Master Plan
West Cumbria's economy has underachieved for many years. Its economic performance lags significantly behind the national and regional averages. Previous attempts at regeneration have too often been fragmented and have failed to take a sufficiently long term perspective that is required to stimulate inward investment on the scale required to deliver real transformation.
From a UK perspective, the challenges facing West Cumbria are unique. The area faces unprecedented changes and real opportunities. The difficulties facing the are coexist with some unique advantages. West Cumbria has advance notice of employment decline at Sellafield and has been given an opportunity to act now to address the issue. Local partners have the backing of all levels of Government to make a difference and we have the support of the NDA representing the major declining industry. The Masterplan is a crucial document to ensure that these opportunities are exploited and that the potential benefits are realised and maximised.
West Cumbria's economy is heavily dependant upon the benefits derived from activities undertaken within the Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant. The Masterplan will provide coherence to a series of actions to tackle the problems facing the area and be a key lobbying document to secure investment in the area.
The economy has in recent years underperformed and the decline is likely to continue unless significant actions are implemented. With decommissioning at Sellafield about to commence, West Cumbria faces major job losses over the next 10 to 15 years. We must make a plan that will attract new businesses and investment and replace these jobs.
Role of the Masterplan
Both the opportunities and challenges facing West Cumbria are extensive and diverse. Addressing this diversity is a major task and one that requires a strong underpinning in terms of understanding and identifying priorities for the future. The Masterplan is designed to serve this role.
The Masterplan is designed to identify transformational actions to secure West Cumbria's future. It will clarify the current situation facing the area and outline a number of scenarios based on different assessments of the future. The Masterplan will identify the actions which offer West Cumbria the biggest benefits over the next 15 to 20 years.
Project Brief
The brief outlined by West Cumbria Strategic Forum for the consultants was the production of:
A seminal and holistic vision that inspires a revolution in our economy and which takes account of economic social and environmental issues and connects with the overarching goals of achieving a sustainable community in West Cumbria.
A route map to an economic performance for West Cumbria at least equal to that of the north west. This needs to be underpinned with some meaningful floor targets to support that performance. These targets to be agreed with the West Cumbria Strategic Forum.
A realistic and achievable Spatial Masterplan that will be used as an advocacy document to guide the implementation of the actions that will develop a new sustainable West Cumbrian economy and in the long term the exigencies and structure and dynamics of the nuclear industry.
The full project brief can be outlined below:
Background Information
In 2002 the UK Government announced its intention to move into a decommissioning phase at Sellafield and Nuclear sites around the country. The proposal to establish a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) was set out in the White Paper – Managing the Nuclear Legacy. Alongside this Government announced the closure dates of the nations fleet of Magnox power stations, which heralded the end of nuclear fuel reprocessing.
Work to investigate the potential impact, on West Cumbria, of different business plan scenarios for the industry was carried out by ERM in 2001 (West Cumbria Socio Economic Study). In the light of proposed increased expenditure on decommissioning activities this was revisited in 2003 to explore the economic impacts of a further scenario, that is, maximum expenditure on decommissioning.
This work indicated that West Cumbria faced severe economic challenges in the years ahead no matter which business scenario was adopted. By the years 2011/12 employment in the industry in West Cumbria was predicted to fall by 8,000 people. The overall economic prospects for West Cumbria were bleak with an overall 17,000 job losses predicted by 2017.)
This situation will be superimposed on a sub-region that is already suffering severe economic stress. GVA per head growth in West Cumbria is already the worst in England. This is set within a county context that also has the worst economic performance in the UK.
The update of the European Union's Third Cohesion Report identified Cumbria as one of only four sub-regions in the EU25 showing absolute decline in GDP. There are significant barriers to securing resurgence to West Cumbria’s economy due to its population sparsity and peripheral location within the UK and Europe. Cumbria comprises 48% of the geographic area of the north west yet holds only 7% of its population. Its economy remains heavily reliant in sectors such as manufacturing which have shown a declining trend in recent years. Yet it is underrepresented in the sectors such as business, finance and professional services, which are showing a growing trend.
Central government has recognised the unique challenges and has asked the region to produce a Master Plan that will achieve a transformation.
The Work Programme
There have been a number of stages in the work programme and these are outlined in more detail below.
- Six working groups were established to guide the project team and assist us to understand the key issues in a short amount of time.
- Consultation with key people and stakeholders has been important in testing our ideas. Community input to the plan is being sought.
- This work feeds into the development of the interim report and the master plan - which is all about the "what".
- The corporate plan will identify "how" the actions will be delivered. Finally, advocacy within Central Government will be necessary to ensure that it is delivered.
- The timeline for developing the Master plan and corporate plan can be found in the Timeline Page
What Has Been Done?
Six working groups have been established consisting of representatives of the public and private sectors to discuss the key issues and topics that the Masterplan must take into consideration. These working groups have been organised along the following thematic lines:
- Energy and Technology
- Business and Enterprise
- Skills and Knowledge
- Physical Infrastructure
- Tourism
- Social Infrastructure
The individual working groups have met twice - in May and June 2006, followed by a joint working group meeting in early September. Working papers were prepared and circulated prior to these meetings to provide information pertinent to the discussions.
A baseline report has been produced which synthesises the large amount of existing research focussed on West Cumbria and was developed to ensure a shared knowledge and understanding of the key issues being faced.
In addition to the working group meetings, a wide ranging consultation exercise is ongoing to increase understanding of the issues and assist in identifying the key action areas to be progressed.
An interim report is being prepared which provides more detail on the main themes and outlines in more detail the provisional actions being proposed.
The Project Team
The project is being led by Cumbria Vision and Partners, on behalf of the West Cumbria Strategic Forum. They have appointed Grant Thornton as lead consultants to develop the spatial Masterplan. Grant Thornton (www.grant-thornton.co.uk) supported by the specialist consultancies Quotec (www.quotec.co.uk) and Lumis (www.lumis.co.uk) in addition to Experian Business Strategies (www.business-strategies.co.uk) who are providing economic modelling input. Steer Davies Gleave are advising on transport and physical infrastructure matters.
Interim Report
The interim report, or draft Master Plan, to be submitted by Grant Thornton to Cumbria Vision sets out in broad terms, the emerging West Cumbrian Spatial Master plan. It outlines the thinking on the issues under consideration and makes preliminary recommendations for action to secure the future of West Cumbria. The separate 'prospectus' document is intended for a wider audience as part of the consultation exercise now being undertaken.
The interim report is based on in depth primary research and analysis including interviews with key stakeholders, a series of workshops (the 'working group' meetings) which aimed to identify the challenges facing the areas and steer the project team thinking on priorities and actions, and a detailed review of existing research and reports.
This report identifies a number of potential transformational projects for West Cumbria. The next stage is to secure buy-in from members of the forum group on these actions and to then provide more detail on the actions in terms of organisational arrangements, funding and costs.
Spatial Masterplan
The Spatial Masterplan is the main report of the project. It details the transformational actions that are required to secure the future prosperity and vitality of West Cumbria.
When completed, the report will be available to download from this page.
Action Plan
The action plan details the main roles, responsibilities and costings for the actions recommended in the Masterplan
When completed, the action plan will be available to download from this page.
