It’s been another challenging year in the South West and the region hasn’t been helped by the government’s recently outlined spending priorities. The perception that the region is something of an economic backwater is unjustified, but in one crucial respect is does come off second best: in putting its case.
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The UK is a country where there are lots of national and regional interests looking to central government for support – and most of them shout more loudly than the South West, which is shy and retiring by comparison. There is no national assembly to beat the drum for us, like Wales or Scotland, and few really big figureheads promoting the local cause quite like in Birmingham or Manchester, for example.
Somehow, though, the South West’s needs and priorities need to be recognised by the new administration. Yet in October, when Chancellor Osborne delivered the outcomes of the spending review, the South West was again a loser: no electrification of the line from London to the West and Wales; no big road-building programmes beyond some widening of the M4 and M5 in a couple of trouble spots; and no additional rural broadband pilots to celebrate.
Yet there is still so much that’s happening here – and lots of reasons for optimism. Work is now underway on the long-awaited science park for Bristol and Bath, Spark, which should be able to build on the extraordinary science and tech base in Bristol, Bath, Swindon and Gloucestershire. Along with offering high quality offices to let in the South West, it’s recently been confirmed as the home for the forthcoming National Composites Centre, which opens in summer 2011 and should build on Bristol’s status as a leader in composites development.
Another sector in which the region remains strong is the creative economy – with Bristol and Plymouth the key centres of activity. This is a sector where the potential for further growth is still considerable, buoyed by the region’s strong creative sector networks, the spread of faster broadband and the vision of developers like Verve, whose game-changing Paintworks scheme is delivering just the kind of environment to draw in media and design talent from across the country.
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