Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that following the adoption of the Places for Everyone Plan in March, we are working towards delivering the Northern Gateway site and the economic growth and employment opportunities that it brings.
It is proposed that governance structures are put in place to ensure robust control, management and monitoring of the various workstreams.
This would provide a single statutory body and formalise joint working arrangements with Rochdale and the Combined authority.
The report also raises that the fact that the Northern Gateway site forms part of Greater Manchester’s Investments Zone, which is designed to help the site deliver growth and innovation in the advanced manufacturing and materials sector.
DECISION:-
· Cabinet endorses the development of formal of joint working arrangements with Rochdale Council to progress work on Atom Valley and Northern Gateway.
· Cabinet approve Northern Gateway as part of Greater Manchester’s Investment Zone.
· Cabinet note in principle the award of Investment Zone funding from the Investment Zone Flexible Spend fund for the purposes of delivery of the Western Access highway project.
· Cabinet approve the procurement of a consultant to appoint and lead a multi-disciplinary team to advance the Northern Gateway site to a maximum sum of £600,000 to be funded from the IZ funding and in accordance with the Council's Contract Procedure Rules.
· Cabinet delegates authority to the Monitoring Officer to finalise and execute any associated agreements.
· Cabinet endorses the Western Access Procurement Strategy at Appendix F and delegates authority to the Executive Director (Place – Business, Growth and Infrastructure) to make adjustments to it as the Northern Gateway project progresses.
· Cabinet endorses the interim governance arrangements for Northern Gateway, including approval of Northern Gateway’s:
a. Governance Framework,
b. Business Plan as appended to Part B of this report and
c. Procurement Strategy.
· Cabinet authorises officers to explore potential delivery options for Northern Gateway, including exploration of Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC). Further reports will be brought to Cabinet with recommendations following conclusion of this workstream.
· Cabinet notes the Rochdale Borough Council’s intention to take a similar report to their Executive.
Reasons for recommendation(s):
· Significant progress is now being made to bring forward Northern Gateway allocations JPA1.1 and JPA1.2, which form part of the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone (MDZ). This includes the recent adoption of Places for Everyone (PfE) Joint Development Plan in March 2024 and the designation of Northern Gateway as part of the Greater Manchester IZ.
· The designation of the Greater Manchester IZ attracts significant funding alongside other financial incentives including the retention of business rates.
· As result of these policy interventions and funding opportunities, there is a need for more structured and formalised working, resourcing and governance arrangements with Rochdale Council and GMCA to realise the opportunities, confirm the structure to move effectively into the delivery phase and ensure adherence to forthcoming government criteria relating to any funding.
· Following the adoption of PfE in March 2024 and the on-going work on the Northern Gateway Development Framework (due to come to Cabinet later in the year), priority areas of work have been identified going forward, which are included in this report, informing the recommendation herein.
· The IZ funding has been allocated from 1st April 2024, with a year-one spend deadline of 31st March 2025, along with other revenue funding, there is a need to move projects forward swiftly and flexibly to respond to these funding opportunities. As such, the report seeks delegations to the Executive Director (Place - Business Growth and Infrastructure), Leader of the Council and relevant Portfolio holder(s) to facilitate these processes and implement the respective Delivery and Procurement Strategies.