MIPIM VIDEO | How to turn regeneration into inclusive growth

Overcoming barriers to delivery and speeding up planning, and taking a collegiate approach to risk management and other processes are just a few of the ways to ensuring projects can make both a difference and a profit, according to participants at a roundtable hosted by WSP.

Public sector decision-makers, including from Salford, Trafford, Dundee, and Manchester city councils, and private sector leaders shared war stories and discussed best practice in regeneration and analysed how current approaches are working out in the face of increasing regulation and ubiquitous viability constraints.

The participants agreed that the key to providing the market with confidence is to have a clear plan for delivery, whether that is a masterplan underpinning the regeneration of Old Trafford or a 30-year strategy aimed at unlocking sites in Dundee.

“The biggest challenge is ensuring viability and giving confidence to developers that they can actually develop,” said Andy Temple, executive managing director for property and buildings at WSP.

“A big part of that is speed [and] we have heard a clear direction from the leaders of the councils that they really want to work with developers and investors to create public/private partnerships that really work for all parties.”

Participants

• Andy Temple, executive managing director for property and buildings at WSP
• John Searle, deputy chief executive of Salford City Council
• Tom Stannard, chief executive of Manchester City Council
• Kevin Riley, director at WSP
• Cathy Palmer, director of regeneration delivery at Walker Sime
• Sandra Robinson, director of strategic growth at WSP
• Brian McArdle, managing director at Gleeds
• Sean Fenner, managing director for the North and Scotland at Kier Group
• Tom Dobson, director at DLA Architecture
• Cllr Tom Ross, Leader of Trafford Council
• James Williamson, principal officer for companies and investment at Dundee City Council
• Chaired by Dan Whelan, deputy editor of Place North West