As Executive Member for Business and Economic Development I wanted to give you an overview of some of our work to date.
My overarching ambition is to enable business to lead.
I’ve run my own business for over 45 years. We in business have a short attention span when working with others and are often accused of not putting our heads above the parapet of engaging with our local government & community
I would say that if enabled we can lead in a Wokingham Borough economy for all, where nobody is left out and with a focus on developing a strategy based on the principles of inclusive growth and community wealth building.
With that in mind we’ve been working on a borough wide Economic Development Strategy with headline discoveries to date:
On the face of it we are a thriving economic borough but drilling down our opportunity lies in…
The fact that we have180,000 people representing a massive 15% growth over ten years
We’ve 8, 500 businesses but that represents a 6% decline over last five years
And business deaths are greater than business births over the same time
5, 000 workless households
3, 500 unpaid carers at 20 hours plus a week
79 % in employment 6% down from 85% in employment over the last two years
Also, there is a markedly rising pay disparity in full time work between men & women
Our action plan is to promote a growing and greener economy for everyone: –
The Strategy aims to ensure the future continued economic success of Borough by tackling barriers to growth, ensuring the right conditions for growth and by striving to make sure economic success is open to all and that nobody is left out.
Developing the principles of inclusive growth through community wealth building.
Maximising Productivity.
Increasing business innovation and competitiveness.
Improving skills, employability and tackling inequalities.
Enhancing place and infrastructure.
Focussing on place and infrastructure we are working on our Town Centre strategies
With this will include all our town and village centres, high streets and retail hubs
We have commenced with Woodley and Wokingham Towns and Twyford village
All our towns have recovered from the pandemic better than most across the nation
We’ve been measuring footfall data via mobile phones which show a year-on-year rise with Woodley being our shining light 12% up from pre-covid figures
Unlike some parts of the country, we do not need to SAVE OUR HIGH STREETS
BUT we do need to NUTURE OUR HIGH STREETS
– Town Centres that help everyone to thrive and where everyone feels they belong
– Support businesses to create ecosystems for sustainable growth
– Celebrate the individuality of our towns
Most of all we need to change the narrative from a struggling high street to a different town, one building on experiential activities, partnerships and strong communities
I highlight our California Village Centre in Finchampstead
A six-month pursuit of a petition to affect changes to the new traffic works has had a negative effect on our retail hub. This narrative has been a hinderance to our businesses in California Finchampstead. There is an extremely strong community in Finchampstead that supports its businesses at California. I am personally determined to work with them to make the most of their newly enhanced centre
We all have a responsibility to Change That Narrative and Nurture Our High Streets please.
By Cllr Mark Ashwell
