New platform for development plans
Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) has spearheaded the first interactive website in the country which outlines all of the sub-region’s local development plans.
Front l/r, Jeremy Hammond, Sarah Windrum, Tony Probert. Back l/r, Bill Blincoe, Chris Lawes
CWLEP has launched www.cwlocalplans.co.uk in conjunction with six local planning authorities – Coventry City Council, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Rugby Borough Council, Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwick District Council – and Warwickshire County Council.
The website, which has been designed by Leamington-based web and digital specialists LightMedia Communications, provides a summary of the overall growth proposals set out in Local Plans as well as a range of information about sub regional matters that are impacted by land use across CWLEP’s area.
Bill Blincoe, planning and development advisor at CWLEP and the CWLEP Growth Hub, and Chris Lawes, CWLEP planning advisor and CWLEP Growth Hub account manager, have driven the project.
Chris said this was a one-stop shop website for communities, businesses, and inward investors to find out about the Local Plans for each part of Coventry and Warwickshire in one location.
He explained: “At the moment, to find out about housing, planning and infrastructure plans detailed in the Local Plan for each authority, you have to visit each website which is not only time consuming, but it can be quite difficult to find the information you want.
“Members of CWLEP’s Planning and Housing Business Group thought it would be a good idea to bring all the information together in one place.
“There has been a good deal of joint working and co-operation by Coventry and Warwickshire’s local planning authorities to present key issues such as housing, infrastructure and employment land as a sub-regional picture with links to direct users to more detailed information held mainly on the local authorities web pages.
“We are confident this will be extremely useful for potential inward investors and anyone wanting to have a sub-regional overview of where growth is taking place or where it’s planned in the future.
“We have had a good deal of technical support with the mapping from Warwickshire County Council which, once again, highlights the positive can-do partnership approach for which our area has become renowned.”
Sarah Windrum, CWLEP Chair, said that World Town Planning Day is for planners and communities to celebrate how strong strategic planning really does improve lives by creating places where residents want to live and work - and this initiative was an ideal example.
“This showcases all of Coventry and Warwickshire’s major developments in one place rather than on individual websites,” she said.
“CWLEP’s Strategic Reset Framework outlines the importance of driving forward our green sustainable future and strengthening our profile to increase inward investment.
“This kind of initiative outlines the innovative approach we have in attracting global investment to Coventry and Warwickshire, highlighted by the latest figures which show that nearly 2,000 new jobs were created in Coventry and Warwickshire thanks to investment from foreign companies in the last year.”