Decision details

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth presented the report which proposed that a Mayoral Development Corporation is created to reflect the importance of the site regionally and nationally. It is also an appropriate time to create more formal procedures for working with Rochdale Council in bringing the sites forward, until such time as the Mayoral Development Corporation is in place. As such, it is proposed that a Memorandum of Understanding is entered into between the two districts.

Decision:

The Cabinet:

1.    Endorsed the principles of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which has been developed to formalise the joint working arrangements with Rochdale Council to progress work on Atom Valley and Northern Gateway.

2.    Delegated authority to the Director of Law and Democratic Services in consultation with the Executive Director of Place and the Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth to develop the detail of the joint district MoU and formalise the agreement, or any subsequent agreement which is deemed necessary.

3.    Noted the recommendations contained within Northern Gateway Delivery Vehicle Options Paper (Deloitte) and endorses the Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) as the preferred delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway.

4.    Approved the boundary (Appendix A) and name of the Northern Gateway MDC, in addition to endorsement of the proposed consultees

5.    Authorised the approval to consult on an MDC as the preferred delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway to facilitate the establishment of an MDC, subject to the outcome of the consultation.

6.    Noted that a further report will be brought back to Cabinet before an MDC will be formally implemented, with more details on its Governance structure and operations.

7.    Noted Rochdale Borough Council’s intention to take a similar report to their respective Executive in respect all items detailed above.

8.    That, subject to the decisions of this Council and Rochdale Council, a report will be presented to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority requesting that it endorse the proposal to consult on the establishment of a Mayoral Development Corporation as the preferred delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway.

9.    That a further report will be presented to Cabinet following the outcome of the consultation before any recommendation is made to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to request the Secretary of State to formally establish an MDC for the Northern Gateway site.

Reason for the decision:

.

Further to Cabinet approval in September 2024 to endorse the development of joint working arrangements with Rochdale Council, approval of the principles of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rochdale Council and delegation to develop and formalise the MoU will further cement alignment of our shared commitment to work together with our partners to deliver Northern Gateway.

Following Cabinet endorsement in September 2024 to allow officers to explore potential delivery options for Northern Gateway, joint advice was commissioned between the Councils and Greater Manchester Combined Authority which concludes that a Mayoral Development Corporation is the most appropriate delivery vehicle to achieve our shared ambitions for the Northern Gateway. Approval to consult on the implementation of an MDC as the preferred delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway will allow the statutory process for implementation to progress for an MDC to be established, there is a statutory requirement for a consultation to take place.

Approval of the proposed name and boundary of the Northern Gateway MDC will provide the material required to commence the statutory consultation process

Other options considered and rejected:

That the principles of the Memorandum of Understanding are not approved, undermining the relationship that has been built up with Rochdale Council and increasing risk to the delivery of Northern Gateway.

That the MDC is not endorsed as the preferred delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway. Prior to identifying an MDC as the recommended delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway, the Northern Gateway Delivery Vehicle Options Paper (Deloitte) undertook an analysis of a range of alternative vehicles. These alternative vehicles were discounted for a range of reasons, including intensive time and resources required to set up, level of risk share with the private sector, insufficient powers, difficulties in creating cross-boundary governance and reliance on pending legislation creating threats to delivery timelines based on an untested model with no best practise basis.

That the proposed MDC boundary and name are not approved, which would result in the consultation not being able to take place.

That the approval to consult on the Northern Gateway MDC is not given, meaning further work could not progress on its implementation and increasing risk to the cohesive delivery of Northern Gateway.