PRESTON A REGIONAL SERVICE CENTRE
Lancashire Economic Partnership s Central Lancashire City Region Development Programme Preston is England s newest city The city acts as the geographic, commercial and administrative centre for Lancashire and has been reinforcing its position in those sectors which have been particularly dynamic over the last fifteen years - public administration, financial, business and computing services
ABC1s Accessibility to Catchment
preston Preston - the new city in the NW
Central Lancashire City Region To Glasgow Key: Cities with characteristics of Tourism/Heritage Regional Services I r i s h S e a Blackpool M5 5 Rail M6 Preston Blackburn Ribble Valley Industrial Travel to work area M65 Burnley Preston To London M61 To Manchester Airport Greater Manchester
County GVA Capacity Profiles (LAD Scores) 4 Gtr Mcr 2 Cheshire Lancashire 0 Cumbria Merseyside -2-4
Economic Headlines Population over 130,000 - increasing since 1981 (North West has a declining population) of working age, almost 80% are economically active (78% in UK) unemployment declining from 5,300 in 1996 to 2,000 in 2004 competitive earnings to be achieved in the City - no incentive to travel outside of Preston to gain employment City is a honey-pot for attracting workers - Preston provides for some 30,000 to 40,000 jobs for people living outside of the City as a measure of productivity, Preston is above regional average and more closely aligned with national growth rates
Knowledge Economy UCLAN 5 th largest UK university 34,000 students 50,000 by 2012 Plus 20,000 college students 100m turnover economic impact 250m per year 1.2bn into local economy in 10 years Preston 19.1% knowledge driven jobs (England average 13.6%) Retail and administrative centre of Lancashire strong travel to service pattern
Location, Location, Location Transport crossroads (M6, M61, M55, M65, West Coast Mainline) 1m people within 30 drive 25% of UK s workforce within an hour s drive Strong travel to work patterns 40,000 each day (net +22k rest of Lancashire negative except Blackpool / Blackburn +5k each Heart of the Central Lancashire City Region (Northern Way)
Preston s GVA Contribution Lancashire provides 20% of North West s total GVA larger than Merseyside s Blackpool and Blackburn provide 2% each Central Lancashire core focus for remaining 16% GVA UK average = 100; Preston 98.7, Chorley 100, Blackburn 79, Blackpool 68.5 (Lancashire 85)
Employment Growth Employment Growth: 1998-02 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% GB NW Preston Lancs Change 98-02 Change 98-02 (adj)
Economic Regeneration Strategy and Action Plan Approved by PSP 24 May 05 : copies of Exec Summary available Key Themes : City Centre and Retailing Tourism and Heritage New Economy Gateways/Public Realm Linking Opportunity with Need Ambitious 2b programme of transformational projects of local and regional significance Commercially viable private sector lead public sector strategy alignment and pump priming required
Challenges Transition from industrial past Tackling social inequality arising from economic restructuring Improving national and international connectivity Preston faces many of the challenges and opportunities of other Regional Services Cities Bristol, UK Opportunities Relatively diverse economy with developing modern service industry Rich asset base e.g. university, city centre, heritage Destination rather than transit point Advantages in attracting or retaining highly-skilled workforce Dijon Source: ww.riis.org Pécs, Hungary Source: www.trendsettereurope.org
CENTRAL LANCASHIRE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME PRESTON ECONOMIC REGENERATION STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN Strand 1 Retail Centre New Economy City-Region Projects Gateways Housing Markets Education and Skills Linking Opportunity with Need Labour Market Participation Strand 2 Tourism Heritage Social Regeneration ENABLING FRAMEWORK
Best Practise Transport - LCC-Civet's scheme, limited improvements Conservation - Various projects with Lancashire Wildlife Trust and others Environment Interreg IIIb funded blue green algae in dock basin Social Inclusion - Various projects, e.g. Sahara Employment Preston Employment Project, Enterprise and businesses development projects
Retail Centre Preston needs a rounded retail and leisure offer with the best range of shopping Delivery of Tithebarn Renewal of secondary and tertiary locations Development of residential quarter At least one quality hotel Addressing Ringway barrier
New Economy Preston should become the focus for investment as a business location through Provision of land and premises First rate communications network Effective business support Projects likely to include: City centre commercial quarter Rationalisation of employment sites Sector development Partnership work with UCLan
Tourism / Heritage Preston needs to capitalise upon its assets to attract greater spend and support holistic growth of Projects likely to focus on: Refurbishing and integrating tourism and heritage assets into city centre Development for employment and leisure use of river and dockland Investment in destination attractions eg Harris, NFM
Gateways Improvement necessary: First impression to visitors Constrain or facilitate Preston s growth Projects likely to include: Improvement plan for urban gateways Additional river crossing A59 Corridor Masterplan
Linking Opportunity and Need Need to ensure local people benefit from regeneration and economic activity in city: Secure labour market participation Address low levels of education and skills Encourage businesses to invest in workforce development Target local jobs at local people Explore potential of social enterprises Restructure housing markets
Key Projects City Centre: Tithebarn-new retail investment by Grovoner Two anchor stores New bus station Tourism and Heritage: Library and Knowledge Centre Avenham and Miller Parks Restoration RiverWorks Dock redevelopment Riverside Canal reinstatement
Key Projects New Economy: Central Business District Dandini (Design and Innovation Initiative) Gateways/Public Realm London Road/Broadgate Gateways Preston Squared: Winckley Square and Flag Market