• Home
• Blogs
  • Blogs
• Documents

• What We Do
• Future North West (formerly Regional Strategy (RS2010))
• Regional Planning
• Regional Housing
• Regional Transport
• Economic Development
• How We Do It
• Equality & Diversity
• Sustainability
• Europe
• Scrutiny

Board calls for strong and clear strategy for the Northwest

Posted On 17/05/2010

Cllr Sir Richard Leese, Chair of 4NW and leader of Manchester City Council, summarised the views of the Board when he called for a focussed new regional strategy: "We must take account of all responses to the regional strategy consultation, but to be strategic the final document cannot be all things to all people.  We need a strategy with strength and clarity."

In considering the new regional strategy (RS2010) consultation report, the board were told that officers from 4NW and NWDA would take account of the direction of travel from the Queen's Speech on May 25 for the next meeting of the Board on 2 July.  Deputy Chair Cllr Ian Marks said: "The strategy has tremendous value for the northwest, and whatever happens we must not lose the terrific input into the consultation from the public and partners."

Shared vision

300 organisations responded to the consultation with some 5,000 individual comments, 24% of which were from the private sector, and all of which will be publicly available.  In all 1,400 people attended 50 formal consultation events.  Responses reflected a broad support for structure and vision of RS2010.  There were differences of views and emphasis on the relative weight given to economic, environmental and social factors and on the prominence given to particular issues, places and sectors, but the thematic strands that the strategy will be built from received approval.

There was a strong appetite from consultees for the region to continue to develop a strategy which identifies and tackles key opportunities and challenges facing the northwest in a genuinely integrated manner.

Read the board papers here