Examination of Witnesses (Questions 63-79)
MR JAMIE
MERRICK, MR
PAUL LOVEJOY,
MR IAN
WRAY, AND
MR IAN
THOMPSON
27 JUNE 2006
Q63 Chair: I imagine that all of the
witnesses have been listening to the evidence. Perhaps you would
begin by telling us who you are.
Mr Wray: I am Ian Wray, Head of
Planning, Transport and Housing at North West Regional Development
Agency.
Mr Thompson: I am Ian Thompson,
Director of Operations (North) for the South West of England RDA.
Mr Merrick: I am Jamie Merrick,
currently acting Director of Sustainable Communities at the East
of England Development Agency.
Mr Lovejoy: I am Paul Lovejoy,
Executive Director of Strategy and Sustainability with the South
East England Development Agency.
Q64 Anne Main: I would like to start
by looking at problem areas. You have been listening to what has
been said. Professor Steve Fothergill has said that "seaside
resorts are the least understood of Britain's problem areas. They
have never received the same attention as inner cities and rural
areas." While that may be quite a sweeping statement, do
you agree with it?
Mr Lovejoy: I do not believe that
is entirely true. In the case of my own agency, I can point to
a recognition that the coastal fringe of the South East is a distinct
area with distinct problems. We have pointed out for several years
that if a regional boundary was drawn around the coast of the
South East and it was called a region it would be an economy approximately
the same size as the north east of England and would be performing
at the same level. We recognise that there are issues in terms
of untapped economic potential and we believe we can demonstrate
that over several years our strategies have recognised the priority
that need to be attached to those areas.
Mr Merrick: From an east of England
perspective, I think that we have a very different spatial pattern
from many other parts of the country, in that we do not have a
core city or major large-scale urban conurbation. Our small and
medium-size towns and cities, both coastal and inland, have been
the major focus of our attention. Because of that very different
characteristic of the region there has been a major focus on a
number of the larger and smaller coastal settlements such as Yarmouth
and Lowestoft which have been major drivers of our sub-regional
economies.
Mr Wray: From the point of view
of academic research and government research, it is probable that
Professor Fothergill is correct, and he is in a good position
to know. He is an outstanding academic and has carried out seminal
research in this area. In the past a good deal of research has
focused on the problems of core cities and big cities. Certainly,
from our point of view it was when the development agency was
established that we began to realise the serious problems in coastal
resorts.
Mr Thompson: Because of our distinct
geography in the South West—I calculate that in our region
we have about 700 miles of coastline—and the wide variety
of settlements on the coast, it is difficult to see massive differences
between inner city and rural areas. There are a lot of shared
characteristics, but as an agency in the South West we have learnt
a lot about their particular problems since 1999 when we were
established.
Q65 Anne Main: Do you regard coastal
towns in your region as problem areas, or do you think they are
just other versions of rural and urban problem areas? Do you regard
them as special problem areas and, if so, in what way?
Mr Thompson: Because of the large
number of our coastal settlements we distinguish some that have
special economic needs; they are more disadvantaged or deprived
towns. I believe that that is reflected in the strategies and
interventions that we have used in our regions. I think the answer
is, yes, we recognise some as having those special needs.
Q66 Chair: You will have heard Caradon
make the point that RDAs may not invest in coastal towns because
the costs are higher and presumably the cost benefit analysis
is poorer, or whichever way round it is. Do you believe that to
be the case?
Mr Thompson: As a general point,
no. I believe that in the context of the costs of RDA programmes
and interventions and the returns that it looks for the agency
sees equally difficult cost benefit analyses in some inner city
areas. It is difficult to say that coastal towns have either a
special or higher cost from that point of view.
Q67 Anne Main: To go back to my "problem
areas", can I ask the other witnesses to respond?
Mr Wray: The important point about
coastal towns is that they vary enormously. In the North West,
which has some of the most serious problems in the country, as
the research made clear, some coastal towns are doing quite nicely.
They are not exactly bucking the trend, but places like West Kirby,
with its strong commuter element, Grange-over-Sands with its a
large retired but relatively affluent population and also Southport
with its commuter base, although it also has problems, are not
doing too badly. But places like Blackpool, Morecambe and New
Brighton in Merseyside have very acute problems of deprivation
and a very limited economic base on which to diversify.
Mr Lovejoy: As I think you heard
from the previous set of witnesses, within one region, the South
East, we see two contrasting examples. In both cases my organisation
has been able to agree a set of appropriate priorities for investment
and action, but the futures that those two areas face are very
different. In one you see the opportunities presented by a bold
investment to attract new business and individual tourism over
the past 30 years in the context of a city which has always been
seen as having a close relationship, both cultural and geographic,
with the capital. In the Isle of Wight we come as near as we can
to the problems of isolation and peripherality in the South East.
I argue that they will always require very different solutions.
Q68 Anne Main: Is there a lack of
flexibility in teasing out those different problems? No one size
fits all. Do you say that you need to look at them in a very flexible
way?
Mr Lovejoy: Yes, I am saying that.
I say that whether it is at regional or national level there is
a need to respect the different possibilities and dynamics in
those areas which will vary quite significantly.
Q69 Alison Seabeck: Basically, are
you saying that there should not be a national coastal town strategy
because the nature of coastal towns is such that they are far
too diverse to have a national strategy?
Mr Lovejoy: Certainly, the conclusion
we draw is that it is questionable whether a national framework
would deliver the results that we look for, if by that we mean
a "one size fits all" approach. If we are looking to
secure recognition of the needs of coastal towns and communities
as a set and then recognise the different interventions and possibilities,
that might provide a useful framing of need, but I am not aware
that any regional development agency has argued for the value
of a single national strategy.
Q70 Chair: I do not think you need
to make comments. Do you think there should be a national coastal
town strategy, or not?
Mr Merrick: Our position would
be exactly the same as Mr Lovejoy's.
Q71 Chair: Is that the general view?
Mr Merrick: Yes.
Q72 Lyn Brown: Do you accept the
premise put to us earlier that tourism is not perceived as an
industry by government or government policy?
Mr Thompson: Perhaps I may start
on tourism. We recognise tourism as an important sector in the
regional economic strategy. It is one of the 10 business sectors
that we prioritise, so at regional level we recognise that and
reflect it in the sort of interventions that we make in the most
needy resorts.
Q73 Chair: In each RDA is there a
regional coastal town strategy?
Mr Wray: We do not have a strategy,
but one of the things we did shortly after our establishment in
response to the submissions that we had on the first strategy
was to commission consultants to look very carefully at the future
economic roles and possibilities for all our different coastal
resorts. That work was commissioned as much to advise and educate
ourselves and the local authorities as to produce a rigid strategy,
but we have agreed informally some very short documents which
we call strategy agreements with some of the more important towns
and cities.
Mr Thompson: We do not have a
special coastal strategy within our economic strategy, but what
guides our investment in coastal towns is the emphasis on tourism
and the marine sectors as two of our priority business sectors.
Mr Merrick: We do not have a dedicated
coastal strategy. We have a regional towns and cities strategy
which has a typology of places within it. One of the five is coastal
towns; another is concerns with areas around port towns, which
have a slightly different driver in terms of how they are developing.
As to tourism, that is one of the key sectors that has underpinned
our two previous regional economic strategies.
Q74 Anne Main: Do you agree that
if they are only 180 degrees in extent they have only half the
ability to generate money? Do you agree that there should be some
mechanism to direct funding to coastal towns?
Mr Wray: One must bear in mind
that what really matters is the totality of public sector support
which comes through a variety of programmes. It comes through
the transport programmes, which are now administered through regional
funding allocations, through housing programmes—the regional
housing strategy—and through our own budgets. There are
still very substantial budgets that we need to influence and deploy
to support coastal towns which will not be within a ring-fenced
budget for coastal towns.
Mr Thompson: On that point, it
depends largely on the type of coastal town that we are talking
about. I see two distinct categories: the resorts and some of
our port and industrial coastal towns. I believe that the nature
of these and the economic development projects or programmes that
are used by the RDAs and other partners are perhaps what matter
more than necessarily the hinterland or population catchment.
Q75 Chair: I want to pick up a point
on the SWRDA. You have the Market and Coastal Towns Association,
do you not?
Mr Thompson: We have a market
and coastal towns programme, yes.
Q76 Chair: Therefore, to that extent
you have a coastal towns strategy?
Mr Thompson: Indeed. That programme
is specifically for market and coastal towns. Fifty towns are
in that programme, of which 11 are coastal towns.
Q77 Dr Pugh: I was a little surprised
to find that you did not have coastal strategies. Every region
has a coast in a sense, just as every region has a city. Do you
have a tourism strategy?
Mr Lovejoy: For the South East,
yes.
Mr Thompson: Yes, we do for the
South West.
Q78 Dr Pugh: To be fair, I think
that the experience of RDAs with regard to tourism is mixed, in
the sense that they only recently assumed extra responsibilities
in that respect. Given that you do not have a coastal strategy,
can you understand the feelings that come across from some coastal
resorts? Skegness wrote: "The record of success for the RDA
and other bodies has been less than satisfactory. Most appear
to concentrate on areas where they are based. It is difficult
to identify where or how the East Midlands Development Agency
has in a major way supported or developed the economy of Skegness."
You must understand where some of the resorts are coming from
here. They believe that basically you are centred very much in
the industrial heartlands of your areas and have a limited perception
of this issue.
Mr Lovejoy: If I may make an observation
from the point of view of a regional development agency that is
in the process of refreshing and developing a coastal strategy,
while that may be a useful contribution I am not sure that that
deals with those concerns. There are a large number of settlements
along the coast with different potential and also different degrees
of readiness for major investment. There is an issue over prioritising
and some will always feel that there is further progress to be
made. We need to make choices at the regional level.
Q79 Dr Pugh: Is that because to some
extent you are involved occasionally in the business of backing
winners and looking at resorts which have the capacity for economic
regeneration, to some extent sidelining those resorts that belong
to the past?
Mr Lovejoy: I would not say "sidelining".
We are always looking to raise and release some untapped economic
potential, but for that to work there needs to be both an issue
to address and a degree of agreement and common purpose around
the priorities to be addressed. We can help secure the second
but not alone. Therefore, we need to work with local actors and
work it through according to local potential.
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