Agenda item

C Blackburn presented a report and presentation which provided an overview of the Infrastructure Place Packages as set out in the draft Strategic Economic Plan which have been developed with Local Authorities following a series of local workshops.

The meeting was reminded that the Board had previously resolved to support the development of Infrastructure Place Packages with the rationale being to develop an integrated ‘place-based approach’ for accelerating the growth and regeneration of the SCR’s key Growth Areas; as well as being proactive by identifying a robust pipeline of infrastructure schemes which can be ready for delivery once future SCR funding is confirmed.

It was noted the Infrastructure Place Packages have been developed alongside the emerging refreshed Strategic Economic Plan, and so are embedded with the SEP.

It was reported that the outcome of the workshops has been the development of seven specific Growth Area (GA) Infrastructure Place Packages (detailed at Appendix 1 to the report):

•      Rotherham Town Centre

•      Barnsley Town Centre

•      Sheffield City Centre

•      Doncaster Town Centre, Waterfront & Station Gateway

•      Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe & Bolton upon Dearne

•      Sheffield AMID Attercliffe & OLP

•      Rotherham AMID Corridor and Extension

Th supporting presentation commented on the packages in more detail.

It was noted that in addition, a separate piece of work has been ongoing with Doncaster Sheffield Airport to develop an Economic Blueprint for ‘Gateway East’ which will be presented in due course to the LEP Board for consideration.

Regarding next steps, it was proposed that each Growth Area Infrastructure Place Package be developed further with local authorities and other relevant partners to clearly understand and set out the high-level ambitions, outputs and outcomes for each Growth Area and how these will contribute to supporting the delivery of the new SEP and the post Covid-19 recovery.

It was confirmed these Blueprints would be agreed with Leaders prior to developing Strategic Business Cases (SBC) for each ‘Place.’

It was noted four of the Growth Areas are also Town Deal areas, so in these

areas, the Town Deal Investment Plans will help inform the SBC.

It was confirmed the SBCs would be brought back to the Infrastructure Board for consideration prior to recommending for approval by the MCA and Local Authorities.

Consideration was given to ‘cross cutting’ elements such as the installation of better digital infrastructure and domestic and businesses’ energy efficiency, which will also be required to ensure these areas (and the wider South Yorkshire area) can achieve their growth potential.

It was noted that the SBCs would help determine the total funding requirement to deliver the plans for each area and updates were provided on the funding sources already secured for this work and others that could potentially be accessed in the future. It was requested that future reports provide additional comment on what sources of funding are being used to fund each Package.

The meeting discussed the ambition for new rail stations and noted the work underway to deliver these.

RESOLVED, that the Board:

1. Noted and supported the ongoing work to develop the Key Growth Area Infrastructure Place Packages summarised in Annex 1.

2. Noted the proposed process and next steps for progressing the further development of the Growth Area Infrastructure Place Packages, including agreeing the initial priority to develop high level Blueprints for each Growth Area.