Atlantic Gateway Parklands the Landscape for Prosperity
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Atlantic Gateway Parklands The Landscape for Prosperity Version 1.0 — June 14 Contents Part 1: Introduction – Accelerating Growth City Growth 8 Adding Value Through Partnership 10 Atlantic Gateway: Priority Themes 12 A Timeline of the Atlantic Gateway Parklands Region 14 Atlantic Gateway Investment Priorities 18 Part 2: Altantic Gateway Parklands The Context 20 The Evidence Base 22 The Approach 32 Part 3: Parklands PLACE and Projects Parklands PLACE 34 Strategic Environment Initiatives 36 Emergent Environmental Initiatives 42 Existing Landscape Assets 44 Strategic Flood Defence 46 Water Quality Investments 48 Part 4: Next Steps Delivering the Benefits 50 Community Environment Fund 52 Conclusion 54 Map 59 2 3 Preface “If anywhere in the UK can develop the Greening supports growth critical mass and momentum to become What can the landscape and sustainable development an alternative growth pole to London, it is offer Atlantic Gateway and its great towns and cities? Atlantic Gateway.” How can we use the environment and our natural assets to underpin sustainable growth? The economy Lord Heseltine and Sir Terry Leahy is the wholly owned subsidiary of the environment: Our ‘Landscape for Prosperity’ centres on the concept that nature can support growth if it is seen as an opportunity Atlantic Gateway – a sustainable future and not a constraint. Atlantic Gateways’s coast, rivers, canals and land are valuable assets: the key to smart Manchester and Liverpool were at the epicentre of and resilient development. the world’s first Industrial Revolution. Now they are leaders in the transformation from grey to green. Only Resilience 50km apart, the cities have global reach and impact. The Liverpool-Manchester corridor – Atlantic Gateway The environment can support adaptation to, and – has a £50bn economy, a population of six million and mitigation of, climate change and flooding. Wildlife and ambitious plans for 250,000 jobs and £14bn of new natural systems deliver direct benefits by cleaning our investment by 2030. air and water, benefitting the visitor economy. Nature makes places look better, encouraging investors and Atlantic Gateway Partnership prioritises five themes to attracting the best knowledge workers. It can form focus the acceleration of growth over the next fifteen spaces for play, and for leisure; leading to healthier years: communities and reduced costs of illness. It’s where we grow food, manage water, and source our raw 1. Growth materials. 2. Connectivity Improving the environment employs people, supports business and creates jobs. And there are a host of 3. Infrastructure secondary industrial sectors that rely on sustainability and a healthy environment for their water supplies, 4. Sustainability energy and raw materials, or which can be badly disrupted when things go wrong. 5. Skills and training This prospectus makes the case for Atlantic Gateway ‘Atlantic Gateway Parklands – the Landscape for Parklands – the Landscape for Prosperity. Prosperity’ sets out the vision and ambition to make places investable and liveable through an exceptional environment. Making the best of the assets on our doorstep will unlock barriers to sustainable growth. “The issue of sustainability is here to stay.” Lord Heseltine “Entrepreneurs look for talented workers and the amenities that these workers like.” Richard Florida Photography: Mark Louden© www.markloudon.com Atlantic Gateway Parklands - the landscape for prosperity 4 5 R o o c c h h L ll d e Rive Irwe e r a d Leeds and l s Li e a v C n e r a d p L o n 35 i a v v o e e l l r r C p p a o o R o o D iv n al er l l Ir w ell Ca n a l A C 33 30 Ashton Canal 19 P S 18 e a a n k k Manchester e F y 14 34 B 15 o 1 r r oo e s k s t St Helens 20 t C 13 C a a n River y n a 23 Merse a l l 2 ub ern H North 12 24 R 3 Liverpool Warrington iv er G oyt 29 36 Birkenhead 16 10/11 Manchester Ship Canal ridgewate B r Ca Widnes n al 17 Macclesfield Canal R A iv 27 e 7 26 r 21 M 9 e 5 8 rs Runcorn ey 22 4 2 R S iv v e H i R er r D ea B n o l 6 l i l n na Ca Ship A ester Tr anch e Ellesmere M n 25 R t iv & Port er Me We rs aver e y C an al 28 anal C 32 The Landscape n o i n U e for Prosperity r i h h s s p River Dee p ver D o o Ri ane r r h h S S Chester 31 Atlantic Gateway Projects Parklands Opportunities Labelling key 1 Liverpool2 9 Sci-Tech Daresbury Environmental Emerging Landscape Strategic Flood Defence Water Quality Major rivers Motorways and canals 2 Liverpool Waters 10 Warrington Waters Initiatives: Assets: Investments: Investments Places not visible on the map 24 3 Wirral Waters 11 Port Warrington 18 Irwell River Park Bold Forest Park 28 Northwich 31 Winsford Nantwich and Crewe 25 4 Mersey Tidal Power 12 Omega 19 Port Salford Greenway Cheshire Saltscape 29 Warrington 32 Northwich, Oakmere and Burscough Major Railways HS2 5 Liverpool John 13 Northern Hub 20 GM Wetlands 26 Port Sunlight River Park 30 Salford Cuddington Hesketh Bank roads Lennon Airport 14 Port Salford 21 Mersey Gateway Nature Park 27 Upper Mersey Valley Forest Park 33 Billinge Whaley Bridge 34 6 Ince Park 15 MediaCityUK 22 Bridgewater Way Sandon Dock 7 3MG 16 HS2 23 Greenpoint for Growth 35 Oldham / Royton www.atlanticgateway.co.uk 8 17 39 Altrincham 6 Mersey Gateway Airport City 7 Part 1: City Growth Introduction – Accelerating Rebalancing the economy Atlantic Gateway – the geography Atlantic Gateway – the proposition Atlantic Gateway is a positive response to the The geography of Atlantic Gateway is roughly that of The Atlantic Gateway proposition is that it makes imperative of rebalancing the economy. The increasing the three LEP areas – Greater Manchester, Cheshire sense to collaborate, to maximise investment into the Growth domination of the UK economy by London and and Warrington, and Liverpool. The TCPA’s ‘England’s area, enable and support the delivery of connecting the south east, and the widening gap in economic Four geographies’ is helpful. The economic geography infrastructure and champion major projects led by performance between the metropolis and ‘the north’ is demands integration of transport, digital, energy and the private sector, LEPs and others. The impact well known. The context is that of growing collaboration water infrastructure. The social geography reveals and influence of these in terms of jobs and growth between the northern city regions. stark contrasts on measures such as skills and life crosses local and regional boundaries: some have expectancy. The political geography is characterised national and international significance. The Atlantic And there is overwhelming evidence of a huge disparity by fragmentation, lack of capacity and mechanisms Gateway Partnership has been playing its part by in public sector investment in, for example, science for spatial planning on the landscape scale. The championing investments such as The Northern Hub and transport between the metropolis and the rest. environmental geography is the Mersey Basin – with rail improvements, vital to improving connectivity across According to IPPR North, on transport: the assets of coast, river and canals and the challenges the north. of climate change and resilience. “The overall pattern of planned capital investment in transport infrastructure is largely unchanged with more than 89% allocated to projects in London and the South East. Measured on a per capita basis Landscape and environment is not where government money is involved, this shows constrained by political or institutional that as a nation we are planning to spend nearly £2,600 on transport expenditure for each Londoner, boundaries. Ideas have no boundaries. 500 times as much as the £5 per person for the north east; 150 times as much as in the South West; 20 times as much as the per capita figure for the north west and over 16 times as much as in Yorkshire and Humber.” This is exemplified by debates around HS2 and exploration by initiatives such as the RSA City Growth Commission: “...individual metros cannot make decisions in isolation. There is a need for strategic decision making between, as well as within, metros and wider regions.” Drivers for cities: key factors affecting and driving the future of the Conurbations of Great Britain city (© Arup) 8 9 Adding Value Through Partnership Partnership working – the record The evolving Atlantic Gateway Partnership The concept of Parklands developed in this prospectus In common with many other unincorporated is underpinned by partnership working across the partnerships with great ambitions and very limited sectors – private, public, third and academic – working resources, its evolution has not been straightforward. together to common ends. Atlantic Gateway evolved out of concerted attempts to shape what would have been the Northwest Regional There is an impressive track record of successful Strategy 2010 and the ideas being promoted for partnership working across the Atlantic Gateway inclusion as spatial and investment priorities within it. geography in tackling challenging, long-term, apparently These included Peel Group’s Ocean Gateway vision intractable problems. One successful example was and attempts to ensure a major greening initiative – the twenty-five year Mersey Basin Campaign, leading ‘Adapting the Landscape’. The axing of the regional the transformation in water quality and enabling structures and the formation of the LEPs disrupted spectacular waterside regeneration. The regeneration progress and created political tensions. Atlantic of Liverpool’s waterfront, Manchester’s waterfront at Gateway emerged out of these uncertainties in the face Salford Quays and many other locations was stimulated of scepticism, but with growing support.