Columnist

What has the North East to look forward to?

by Darron Barker, Dunlop Heywood Newcastle

The North East has a busy year ahead with many opportunities coming our way.

The completion of major transport infrastructure works such as those improvements to the A1 Western By-Pass, albeit understanding that they may now run into 2017, would be a welcome relief.

The recent completion of the £14m revamp of Newcastle International Airport’s main terminal building should also encourage greater usage.

In terms of new developments, the coming into being of Atom Bank, the UK’s first digital only bank, based near Durham City, due to commence operating in the first quarter of 2016 should also be welcomed.

As ever, with opportunity comes threats and with the Bank of England hinting at business rate rises, our region could be hit hard. The planning system is still the subject of much criticism in putting up barriers to development and possible reductions in public funding for some schemes is a possibility as regions fight for a dwindling national pot. Recent flooding in the North West and Yorkshire could also see other funds diverted to our neighbours in the short to medium term.

Is the Northern Powerhouse Making Any Difference Yet?

No one really knows what the expression Northern Powerhouse means, it lacks clarity.

Where is its headquarters? If the answer to this was to follow the league table of Premier League football clubs then Manchester would be top, followed by Liverpool and then Newcastle/Sunderland, albeit Leeds is acknowledged to be a far larger economy than Newcastle/Sunderland.

The Northern Powerhouse area is very disparate so it is hard to see how a unified entity can make an impact on the international stage in order to encourage inward investment. Just one example, the transport infrastructure across the Northern Powerhouse is very mixed quality. In this day and age should there really still be a journey time of three hours or more to reach Manchester from Newcastle either by road or rail?

The Northern Powerhouse concept is further complicated by the geography of the region and the various layers of political influence and control. For example, there is now an emphasis on the Combined Authority within the North East of England comprising of seven main LA’s to work in a more joined-up fashion to encourage inward investment. All credit to Manchester which has had strong and clear leadership for many years in terms of how that part of the North of England has developed. Manchester has promoted itself abroad as the Manchester City Region which appears to have worked well, whereas for example, the North East of England continues to be a very loose confederation of local authorities which have failed to effectively work together.

Fundamentally, for the Northern Powerhouse to work, transport links by road, rail and air need to be better and more affordable. Has the northern region ever really worked effectively together as a unit – no! The name Northern Powerhouse may have been one borne out of political necessity. It is too easy to lump us all together in the north under a single name but the practicalities of working together is the real issue to be addressed. A Combined Authority within the North East region may stand a better chance in terms of cooperating for the greater good as it is more distinct and geographically defined.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dunlop Heywood .