UK City of Culture will provide Bradford with impetus to grow, Turner & Townsend roundtable is told
Kersten England CBE, Chair of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, made the comments during a roundtable hosted by The Yorkshire Post and Turner & Townsend which attracted leaders from the private and public sectors. Ms England told the roundtable that collaboration and working in partnership are key to delivering impact and success.
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Hide AdShe added: “Nowhere has this been seen more clearly than when Bradford won the UK City of Culture – the whole bid was powered by and had the backing of everyone in Bradford. From the people, the businesses and the politicians from all political parties – this authentic and genuine collaboration was an attractive inward investment proposition.”
She went on to say: "It’s also about harnessing opportunities. As CEO of Bradford Council, I recognised the Leeds-Bradford asymmetry and worked closely with Leeds City Council as the two districts' labour markets were so closely entwined. When Tom (Riordan), the Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, and I were part of the bidding team for Channel 4 we recognised that the headquarters wouldn’t be in Bradford but what I did recognise was I was serving the district with the youngest population in Europe.
“With 30 per cent of residents under the age of 20, these digital natives, many of whom were interested in careers in the arts and media sector were a huge asset and interest to Channel 4, and were an audience they wanted to understand, engage and support. The reason Channel 4 chose to come here was the strength of collaboration and this support was a huge benefit to the people of our district, leading to Screen Yorkshire’s Beyond Brontës, a skills initiative that has supported more than 250 trainees since it began in 2019, and collaboration with Higher Education institutes.”
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Hide AdShe added: "It has to be head and heart. You have to have a business case, but you also have to have the passion, commitment, tenacity and resilience, especially when navigating the many changes in Government policy.
“The UK City of Culture will provide Bradford with the impetus to grow, and I hope that what we do here can lead to future policy development and investment decisions."
Mark Casci, Head of Policy and Representation at West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said Yorkshire is blessed with some of the best universities in the world.
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Hide AdHe added: “Our business community is world class and diverse. The potential for green energy in North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire has the potential to be genuinely world leading.
"There is a wonderful culture of entrepreneurialism that runs through every part of Yorkshire.”
However he continued: "It's not easy to get around the region, and it's not easy to get in and out of the region, other than to go to London on the train.
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Hide Ad"Mass transit is coming and the future doesn't lie in cars; it's becoming harder to drive into city centres for good environmental reasons.
"The future is buses, mass transit and active travel. Doncaster Sheffield Airport is a fantastic asset we need to retain. Leeds Bradford Airport is doing superb work with its new terminal.”
The roundtable also highlighted the fact that cities within Yorkshire often compete against each other.
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Hide AdMr Casci added: “Manchester is the capital city of greater Manchester. Liverpool is the capital city of Merseyside. Newcastle is the capital of the North East. There is never going to be a capital of Yorkshire. Leeds might be the biggest city, but it's never going to be the capital because the identity that's held in places like Sheffield and Doncaster, Huddersfield, York and Scarborough is just too strong.
"There is never a power base where you can coalesce everything around. I wouldn't change that; that's what makes Yorkshire, Yorkshire.”
Kate Morris, Head of Transport Planning, Leeds City Council said she wanted to stress the importance of providing access for all, including those who aren't on a mass transit corridor.
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Hide AdShe added: "Having an integrated transport network, which includes buses, is really important. We need to make sure that the network is reliable; as the highway authority we can really help to influence that.
"It's got to be affordable. Ultimately, everybody around this table wants the same outcomes, which are increased economic growth and the healthy living benefits that come from sustainable transport.”
"Collaboration is very easy to articulate at a very high, strategic level. The challenge we have is that there are nuances in how you interpret those outcomes. There are competing demands in terms of how you accommodate them. There always has to be compromise as we work together. We must recognise that we will only achieve a common aim, if there is willingness to compromise to achieve a mutually aligned position.
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Hide Ad"One of my biggest challenges - being in charge of the highway network - is how do I accommodate all of the demands that everybody wants.
"I've got a historic built environment that wasn't designed and built for what we need now. Removing on-street parking for example is one of the most contentious things you can imagine.
"I still don't think we've got that grassroots swell and understanding of what people need to do in terms of transport behaviours to facilitate our long term strategic goals."
This is the third in a series of articles about the roundtable, which was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Leeds, and chaired by Greg Wright, the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post.
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