Tag Archives: thames gateway

TGLP welcomes funding for areas affected by riots

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The Thames Gateway London Partnership welcomes both the Mayor of London and central government’s announcement of funding to London and the rest of the country following recent public disturbances.

The Mayor has allocated £50million regeneration fund to help make major long term improvements to the capital’s town centres and high streets damaged by the riots. This money will aid repairs and rebuilding work needed in affected areas, many of whom will be in receipt of funds from the Mayor’s Outer London Fund.

Central government has also pledged £30million which aims to ‘open up shops and rebuild buildings which were damaged, make sure people who lost their homes are rehoused and to help councils get their areas back to normal as quickly as possible.’

TGLP hopes that our boroughs get the fullest benefits from today’s announcement and that the funds will help to not only restore normality to neighbourhoods but increase economic activity and drive employment in London.

TGLP welcomes CBI call for growth in skills and employability

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The Thames Gateway London Partnership welcomes the publication of CBI’s briefing paper ‘Mapping the route to growth rebalancing employment.’

The paper which examines  the UK’s track record of labour market achievement and highlights the challenges for the future, supports a number of TGLP’s key objectives in particular the need for investment and growth in the employment and skills sector. TGLP welcomes the CBI’s call for change in order to avoid  ‘a polarisation of skills levels’ with more higher skills required in London. TGLP believes that it is essential  to invest in the long term and exploit the opportunities and talents available in the labour market.

TGLP Chief Executive Ros Dunn stated ‘TGLP welcomes the publication of CBI’s briefing paper which reinforces our concerns that the level of employment has unduly suffered during the economic downturn  and has affected the greater South East as much as the rest of the country. TGLP calls for greater investment in the skills sector and for the government to recognise that  the skills sector is one of the key drivers of employment growth.’

Notes to Editor:

  • TGLP is a cross river cross party organisation representing the 10 local authorities and 8 universities in the Thames Gateway area.
  • CBI’s ‘Mapping the route to growth rebalancing employment’ can be found here

Shadow Minister visits the Thames Gateway

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The Shadow Thames Gateway Minister Chris Williamson recently paid a visit (8.6.11) to London’s Thames Gateway, an area of great unexploited potential earmarked for significant housing and jobs growth due to the availability of brownfield land and the upcoming Olympic games.

Speaking of the visit the Shadow Minister Chris Williamson stated:

“The visit to Thames Gateway was very interesting.  The scale of the project is huge and I was impressed by the staff I met.  It is exciting to see such a massive scheme flourish which is vital to realising London’s full potential.

The jobs and regeneration the scheme is creating are essential in revitalising London’s economy.  The Government should undoubtedly be showing the scheme more support through these tough economic times and ensure our Capital is not left behind on the world stage.”

During the visit the Mr Williamson visited Newham’s viewing gallery meeting with Councillor Conor McAuley (Newham) discussing river crossings, employability and skills and the benefits of Olympics. The Shadow Minister also visited Barking Riverside meeting members from the Barking Riverside project and representatives from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s regeneration team.

London must not be left behind

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The Thames Gateway London Partnership, a cross party cross river organisation representing the 10 local authorities and 8 universities in the Thames Gateway area, yesterday (08.06.011) gave evidence to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee enquiry into regeneration alongside the London Borough of Newham.

The enquiry held in response to the Government publication ‘Regeneration to enable growth: What growth is doing to support community led regeneration’ heard from TGLP’s Chief Executive Ros Dunn,  who argued that London should not be penalised by Government policies, pointing to the region’s exclusion from the National Insurance Holiday, noting that:

‘Rebalancing the economy must mean levelling up, not down. London is the engine of the UK economy and must not be held back or allowed to fall back.’

Dunn also called for strong national leadership and recognition from government that targeted investment and community led regeneration need to be properly linked up.

TGLP’s Chief Executive Ros Dunn stated ‘The Communities and Local Government select committee hearing, provided TGLP the platform to present London’s case to central government. We hope the committee listens to our points and recommends them to central government.’

Coalition Government urged to give the Thames Gateway something to celebrate

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Thames Gateway London Partnership urges the Government to step up  its support of the Thames Gateway

Thames Gateway London Partnership has today, on the first anniversary  of the coalition, urged the Government to recognise the ‘massive unexploited potential’ of the Thames Gateway region through tangible measures of support.

TGLP, a cross party organisation representing local authorities and universities in the Thames Gateway area  welcomes the creation of an enterprise zone in the Royal Docks but has warned that as the government continues to focus its attention on the rest of the country, more needs to be done in order to stimulate and sustain growth in Europe’s largest regeneration scheme.

Chief Executive Ros Dunn said:

“Sir Peter Hall has recently asked if there is much to celebrate on the 20th birthday of the Thames Gateway. The answer is “yes…and no”. “Yes” because our successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games in London would not have been possible if the supporting infrastructure brought by the Thames Gateway project had not been there. “No” because there is still much more to do, and little sign that the government is giving the Gateway the continuing priority it needs to deliver the sustained economic growth which benefits the whole of the country. Commitments to further essential infrastructure in the sub region, such as extra river crossings and the interchange of HS1 and HS2 through Stratford International station would be a real cause for celebration.”