Issue - meetings

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on consultation on the draft Strategy.

The Strategy was noted and the Head of Planning was authorised in consultation with the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) and the Executive Member (Environment and Planning) and the Executive Member (Regeneration, Economic, Development and Partnerships), to respond to the consultation.

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on consultation on a Strategy to help deliver national ambitions to improve productivity and tackle future challenges.

The Strategy identified key challenges, notably that productivity had grown more slowly and declined relative to the UK average, the key sectors that the local economy relied on such as life sciences, advanced engineering and manufacturing, construction and media and that Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield had infrastructure deprivation and cultural challenges, but with scope to be reinvigorated for the 21st century.

The Strategy also identified major future trends such as digitalisation, climate change, ageing population, personalised medicine and transport as a service and an overarching theme and six strategic themes to help guide the future of the County. It envisaged two possible scenarios one in which Hertfordshire fulfilled its potential within the London-Oxford-Cambridge golden triangle and one in which it helped to facilitate London’s growth.

It was recommended that the Council should comment that Welwyn Hatfield was exceptionally well placed to contribute to economic aspirations, that an aspirational scenario to fulfil potential within the golden triangle, rather than remaining subservient to whatever happened in London, be supported as Hertfordshire had an opportunity to take itself in an ambitious direction with benefits shared by all and that the Strategy contained too many visions and themes, but not enough about how it was going to be achieved, how businesses were going to be attracted/ retained and how skills were going to be improved and funding invested etc.

RESOLVED:

That the Strategy be noted and the Head of Planning in consultation with the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) and the Executive Member (Environment and Planning) and the Executive Member (Regeneration, Economic, Development and Partnerships), be authorised to respond to the consultation.