Memorandum by Crewe and Nantwich Borough
Council (RG 105)
This account summarises the experience of a
Borough Council in South Cheshire and its attempt to be accepted
as part of the Manchester City Region.
When the initial idea of the Northern Way was
first announced, it was portrayed as a very broad-brush concept.
In looking at a diagrammatic representation, the most we could
deduce was that our area might be in the fuzzy zone. (And as things
turned out, "fuzzy" became a key word.) We were told
at the time that a number of detailed studies were in hand that
would produce a clearer definition of what constituted the city
regions within the Northern Way.
When draft proposals were produced, we found
that all of Cheshire was regarded as part of either the Liverpool
or Manchester city regions, with the exception of Crewe and Nantwich.
There were concerns about this on three grounds:
(i) All the background studies on city region
connectivity were based on 1991 Census data and a good deal had
changed in the intervening years.
(ii) An out-dated concept of how a city region
actually operated had been adopted.
(iii) Scant regard had been given to the
clear evidence on the ground of connectivity with the Manchester
city region—Manchester Metropolitan University has a substantial
presence here, and there are direct rail connections both to the
airport and city centre.
The Borough Council commissioned an independent
study from "Local Futures" which was led by Professor
Mark Hepworth of Birkbeck College, London. (A copy of the study
findings is available if required). The study covered four lines
of inquiry:
(a) It analysed economic interdependence
between Crewe and Nantwich and the Manchester city region using
2001 Census data. The results showed that adding this area to
the city region would actually increase the travel to work containment
level of the city region, rather than dilute it. They also showed
that the proportion of employed residents who worked in the city
region was lower than that of Crewe and Nantwich in both Vale
Royal and Congleton. Both of these were included areas. It was
also shown that 47% of all in-commuting to work in this District
was from the Manchester sub-region.
(b) The study reviewed current thinking on
city regions as spatial structure. It concluded that a polycentric
model of settlements of a varying size interacting with each other
was far more representative of how a modern city region operated
than the conventional centripetal effect of a large city dominating
its hinterland. In other words the opportunity and diversity afforded
by the hinterland of the city contributed greatly to the value
of the city region. The study argued that Crewe and Nantwich was
deserving of a place in the polycentric city region—(see
next point).
(c) The study looked at this District's economic
performance and concluded that it was too good to ignore. It had
the second fastest growing economy in the entire NW region and
the seventh fastest in the country. The growth in pay levels was
the fifth largest in the NW region. It had an economy that was
rapidly transforming and diversifying, ranking in the top quartile
regionally for graduates of working age in the population and
in the top half regionally for knowledge-driven employment growth.
Between 1998 and 2004 employment in the manufacturing sector fell
in all parts of the Manchester city region. In Crewe and Nantwich
it grew by 24.2%. In short, this District's economy can strengthen
the city region economy through its inclusion.
(d) The fourth issue examined was governance.
A successful city region needs to develop its infrastructure and
its social capital in a co-ordinated way. It also needs to align
decision-making and the use of public and private resources. By
2009, Manchester Metropolitan University will have 6,000 students
based in Crewe. The town's strategic rail links make it a recognised
gateway to the NW region as well as the Manchester city region.
The local economy is growing at over 800 new jobs a year, and
this rate is likely to continue. Decisions made around such elements
should not be made outside of the city region context.
Following a representation to the North West
Development Agency that Crewe and Nantwich had been excluded from
the city region, the Council received a reply to say that the
whole concept had been misunderstood. While the city region concept
served to show where assets and priorities for action were concentrated;
there were other initiatives that still applied to excluded areas.
Moreover, when the Local Futures study (previously referred to)
was submitted to the GONW, the Regional Director replied that
whilst city regions offered the greater potential and opportunities
for transformational growth, this is not to discount the economic
and social value of areas outside those city regions. "By
their nature", he said, "the boundaries of city regions
are fuzzy". That word again.
In essence, these responses have given no indication
of why this area has been excluded, only advice that we need not
be particularly concerned about it. But if we think that the notion
of a polycentric city region is the right model, and if we feel
that this area has a real symbiotic relationship with the city
region, (as evidenced by an independent study) then we should
be concerned.
In terms of the implications for Crewe and Nantwich
of its exclusion from the city region, they are as follows:
1. Bureaucracies do not use "fuzzy
boundaries". It may be a useful device for appeasing or comforting
those areas that are excluded, but when it comes to hard decisions
about priorities in resource allocation you are either in or out.
For the future, there is a fear that there will be less access
to funds for infrastructure improvements in the local area.
2. There is already evidence of Crewe and
Nantwich becoming an isolated "policy island". The new
Regional Spatial Strategy puts forward proposals for the Manchester,
Liverpool and Central Lancashire city regions and also for Cumbria
and North Lancashire as a sub-region. Crewe and Nantwich, a solitary
district in the far south of the region, has a set of policies
all of its own.
3. There is likely to be a governance vacuum.
Economically, physically and culturally, Crewe and Nantwich feels
itself to be part of the Manchester city region. However, it is
not a recognised stakeholder. Decisions will be made within the
city region which will have a direct bearing on this area, but
we will not have been party to those decisions.
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