22nd November 2001
English Partnership Open Meeting
Chairman, Ladies & Gentleman, Good Afternoon. I am delighted to be here and, as a Member of the Board, I would like to add my welcome and thanks to each one of you for taking time out to join us today.
Chairman, Ladies & Gentleman, Good Afternoon. I am delighted to be here and, as a Member of the Board, I would like to add my welcome and thanks to each one of you for taking time out to join us today.
I have now been on the Board of English Partnerships for just over a year and have been impressed by its focus on long-term regeneration and development and the sheer scale, diversity and range of activities that it is engaged in.
You have heard much about the work of English Partnerships this morning and you can rest assured that I don’t intend to go over the same ground. My remit this afternoon is to give you my personal perspective of the work of English Partnerships.
I arrived in Shepherd’s Bush, West London as a refugee from East Africa over 30 years ago.
Life in England began in a corner shop, with me and 14 other family members living in 4 bedrooms above the shop. The street and neighbourhood were run down - derelict - yet this was to give me my own personal first hand experience of neighbourhood and community regeneration. Within a couple of years, an area that was run down and derelict was beginning to develop into a thriving, prosperous community as more shops reopened and people began to move in.
Last year, when I declared my intentions to run as a candidate for Mayor of London, The Times newspaper who broke the story of my candidacy insisted on taking my picture in front of the old shop in Shepherd’s Bush. On enquiring with the new owners about the state of the local economy, I was staggered to hear that the very shop for which we had paid a few hundred pounds 30 years ago was now changing hands at over half a million pounds - sustainability in action indeed!
Today, my interests in regeneration and development outside of English Partnerships include chairing the London Sustainability Exchange, the London Community Foundation and the East London Employment Bond. In addition I am a visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship and regeneration at Middlesex University.
The London Sustainability Exchange was launched last week with core funding provided by the Bridge House Estates Trust - a key body in the Corporation of London. LSx has been set up to trade ideas and good practice across London with its mission to help make London the most sustainable city in the world by working in partnership with key stakeholders including organisations like the LDA who, as many of you will know, were a part of English Partnerships.
The London Community Foundation aims to encourage sustainable philanthropy in London and is part of the national Community Foundation Network. And in this connection I was delighted to learn from the Chief Executive of Milton Keynes Community Foundation of the help that English Partnerships gave her in the setting up of her organisation - by providing access to property for use by community groups in Milton Keynes. Yet, another example of the wide-ranging work of English Partnerships.
The third area I mentioned is the East London Employment Bond - this will involve raising £50 million in interest free loans to help three of the most deprived boroughs in London, Newham home to many of London’s dockworkers, Tower Hamlets with its significant Bangladeshi population and Hackney where there is a large African Caribbean community.
During my campaign for Mayor of London, I came across a socio-economic map of London from 100 years ago and comparing this with the picture today, you could transpose the two maps and see that the geographic rich poor divide has hardly changed over this period - sustainability in action means not only environmental sustainability, but economic and social sustainability across regions.
This is a priority in the context of the Government’s urban regeneration agenda and therefore one, which English Partnerships has sought to address in its own priorities.
For example, you heard earlier about a current initiative which is awaiting final Government clearance - the English Cities Fund. This is an innovative initiative with the private sector reflecting English Partnership’s ability to lead partnership work at the cutting edge - essential in the fast changing environment that we have to operate in. These Public Private Partnerships are just one area where flexibility and innovation will be crucial in the days ahead.
Our Board Members come from diverse backgrounds including RDA Chairmen and property experts. I am a businessman, my interests ranging from dot coms and management consultancy and even including the production of a musical based on M M Kayes’ best selling novel - The Far Pavilions - set to open in the West End next year.
As a businessman, who is clearly not a property expert, I find myself engaging in debate raising issues from a perspective that can ask the simple question, why? We are of course delighted with our Acting Chairman, Victor Benjamin, who with equal simplicity and a wry smile often responds with “Why Not?” Just yesterday, we went through a wide ranging Agenda that covered health and safety issues, a discussion on the review of the planning system, a proposed joint venture with a property company, an update on the Millennium communities programme, and so on.
We all bring with us expertise that I believe adds to the depth and quality of our discussions. Of course, there is a range of different strongly held views but ultimately all these are brought together to serve a common objective - benefiting citizens and helping develop sustainable communities.
For example, as a member of the Better Regulation Task Force, I recently chaired the Local Shops Report highlighting the importance of this declining sector in helping achieve the Governments Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy for local communities.
This social equity dimension is a key part of the Government’s regeneration and development agenda and in this, English Partnerships has a direct and crucial role that it does play.
Earlier on today, our Chief Executive, Paula Hay-Plumb set out English Partnerships’ potential and identified four key assets which have enabled our relatively young organisation to keep at the forefront of the national policy agenda - our property portfolio, our highly skilled and qualified staff, our flexible approach and our national and cross-regional remit. English Partnerships is in a unique position - it is the only public sector land and property organisations with an overview of the land supply across England and the national focus to energise investment in the brown field agenda - in short, we are the national catalyst for property led regeneration and development.
And this morning you have heard about some of the current work that we are involved in:
Accommodating household growth, through new town strategies and urban extensions
Developing joint ventures to unlock the potential of dormant public sector land holdings
Identifying brownfield land for housing development: the National Land Use database is a vital tool in this
Delivering the £385 million coalfields programme in areas which have suffered significant economic and social deprivation
Leading the Millennium communities programme, testing out the highest standards of planning, design and building performance
Playing a leading role in the new Urban Regeneration Companies
All this is of course achieved by the excellent working relationships that have been established between the Non Executive Directors and the Chief Executive and Executive Management Board working together as a team especially in the context of the Review that is currently in progress and working closely with DTLR and consultants.
I share the confidence of our Chairman and Chief Executive and indeed the Board and believe that English Partnerships has an exciting future ahead. I am delighted to be part of English Partnerships especially at this time and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and indeed with all of you, as our stakeholders in the achievement of our vision.
English Partnership Open Meeting
Personal Perspective From the Board
Ram Gidoomal CBE
Chairman, Ladies & Gentleman, Good Afternoon. I am delighted to be here and, as a Member of the Board, I would like to add my welcome and thanks to each one of you for taking time out to join us today.Chairman, Ladies & Gentleman, Good Afternoon. I am delighted to be here and, as a Member of the Board, I would like to add my welcome and thanks to each one of you for taking time out to join us today.
I have now been on the Board of English Partnerships for just over a year and have been impressed by its focus on long-term regeneration and development and the sheer scale, diversity and range of activities that it is engaged in.
You have heard much about the work of English Partnerships this morning and you can rest assured that I don’t intend to go over the same ground. My remit this afternoon is to give you my personal perspective of the work of English Partnerships.
I arrived in Shepherd’s Bush, West London as a refugee from East Africa over 30 years ago.
Life in England began in a corner shop, with me and 14 other family members living in 4 bedrooms above the shop. The street and neighbourhood were run down - derelict - yet this was to give me my own personal first hand experience of neighbourhood and community regeneration. Within a couple of years, an area that was run down and derelict was beginning to develop into a thriving, prosperous community as more shops reopened and people began to move in.
Last year, when I declared my intentions to run as a candidate for Mayor of London, The Times newspaper who broke the story of my candidacy insisted on taking my picture in front of the old shop in Shepherd’s Bush. On enquiring with the new owners about the state of the local economy, I was staggered to hear that the very shop for which we had paid a few hundred pounds 30 years ago was now changing hands at over half a million pounds - sustainability in action indeed!
Today, my interests in regeneration and development outside of English Partnerships include chairing the London Sustainability Exchange, the London Community Foundation and the East London Employment Bond. In addition I am a visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship and regeneration at Middlesex University.
The London Sustainability Exchange was launched last week with core funding provided by the Bridge House Estates Trust - a key body in the Corporation of London. LSx has been set up to trade ideas and good practice across London with its mission to help make London the most sustainable city in the world by working in partnership with key stakeholders including organisations like the LDA who, as many of you will know, were a part of English Partnerships.
The London Community Foundation aims to encourage sustainable philanthropy in London and is part of the national Community Foundation Network. And in this connection I was delighted to learn from the Chief Executive of Milton Keynes Community Foundation of the help that English Partnerships gave her in the setting up of her organisation - by providing access to property for use by community groups in Milton Keynes. Yet, another example of the wide-ranging work of English Partnerships.
The third area I mentioned is the East London Employment Bond - this will involve raising £50 million in interest free loans to help three of the most deprived boroughs in London, Newham home to many of London’s dockworkers, Tower Hamlets with its significant Bangladeshi population and Hackney where there is a large African Caribbean community.
During my campaign for Mayor of London, I came across a socio-economic map of London from 100 years ago and comparing this with the picture today, you could transpose the two maps and see that the geographic rich poor divide has hardly changed over this period - sustainability in action means not only environmental sustainability, but economic and social sustainability across regions.
This is a priority in the context of the Government’s urban regeneration agenda and therefore one, which English Partnerships has sought to address in its own priorities.
For example, you heard earlier about a current initiative which is awaiting final Government clearance - the English Cities Fund. This is an innovative initiative with the private sector reflecting English Partnership’s ability to lead partnership work at the cutting edge - essential in the fast changing environment that we have to operate in. These Public Private Partnerships are just one area where flexibility and innovation will be crucial in the days ahead.
Our Board Members come from diverse backgrounds including RDA Chairmen and property experts. I am a businessman, my interests ranging from dot coms and management consultancy and even including the production of a musical based on M M Kayes’ best selling novel - The Far Pavilions - set to open in the West End next year.
As a businessman, who is clearly not a property expert, I find myself engaging in debate raising issues from a perspective that can ask the simple question, why? We are of course delighted with our Acting Chairman, Victor Benjamin, who with equal simplicity and a wry smile often responds with “Why Not?” Just yesterday, we went through a wide ranging Agenda that covered health and safety issues, a discussion on the review of the planning system, a proposed joint venture with a property company, an update on the Millennium communities programme, and so on.
We all bring with us expertise that I believe adds to the depth and quality of our discussions. Of course, there is a range of different strongly held views but ultimately all these are brought together to serve a common objective - benefiting citizens and helping develop sustainable communities.
For example, as a member of the Better Regulation Task Force, I recently chaired the Local Shops Report highlighting the importance of this declining sector in helping achieve the Governments Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy for local communities.
This social equity dimension is a key part of the Government’s regeneration and development agenda and in this, English Partnerships has a direct and crucial role that it does play.
Earlier on today, our Chief Executive, Paula Hay-Plumb set out English Partnerships’ potential and identified four key assets which have enabled our relatively young organisation to keep at the forefront of the national policy agenda - our property portfolio, our highly skilled and qualified staff, our flexible approach and our national and cross-regional remit. English Partnerships is in a unique position - it is the only public sector land and property organisations with an overview of the land supply across England and the national focus to energise investment in the brown field agenda - in short, we are the national catalyst for property led regeneration and development.
And this morning you have heard about some of the current work that we are involved in:
All this is of course achieved by the excellent working relationships that have been established between the Non Executive Directors and the Chief Executive and Executive Management Board working together as a team especially in the context of the Review that is currently in progress and working closely with DTLR and consultants.
I share the confidence of our Chairman and Chief Executive and indeed the Board and believe that English Partnerships has an exciting future ahead. I am delighted to be part of English Partnerships especially at this time and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and indeed with all of you, as our stakeholders in the achievement of our vision.
