Infrastructure key to Growth Deal success
By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
Councillors on the Economy, Residents, Communities and Governance scrutiny committee discussed the growth deal, which is potentially worth £165 million, and Councillor David Selby said: “As we have been working on the document for some time, is it Covid-19 checked now?”
Powys County Council’s Director of economy and environment, Nigel Brinn, said: “The document has been updated to reflect the Coronavirus outbreak but the aspirations have not changed that much. If anything the necessity for the growth deal is even more.”
Cllr Selby added that Newtown was subject to a growth deal some 30/40 years ago, called the Mid Wales Development Board. He said that analysis of their work would show the amount of resources needed to push projects forward.
Mr Brinn answered: “It’s worth taking into account what’s worked well and not in the past.
“Developing successful projects can be quite expensive and labour intensive.”
Committee chairman, Councillor Mathew Dorrance, mentioned that he had once worked for a trade association that represented onshore wind developers.
He said: “There was significant resistance to any growth in terms of wind and in particular extra capacity for the (electricity) grid.
“Do you think we have learned the lessons of those debates and is there appetite to change?”
Mr Brinn said: “Time will tell, we will be looking at much more subtle forms of renewable energy.”
Mr Brinn said that he was a supporter of anaerobic digestion plants which break down waste to produce energy and fertiliser. He added that he had spoken to businesses who were eager to set up plants but infrastructure investment “is a problem”.
Councillor Jeremy Pugh pointed out that the electricity grid has little capacity to hook more projects up to it.
“I know of saw mills who are having to take their pulp away when it could be burned and produce energy,” said Cllr Pugh.
Mr Brinn added that discussions were taking place with energy firms on the issue, and that other infrastructure problems, including sewage treatment, also need to be tackled.
In May, the “Strategic Economic Plan and Growth Deal Road Map”, which sets out the ambition for the economies of Ceredigion and Powys, was agreed at the first meeting of the Growing Mid-Wales Board.
In June, the document was jointly presented by Ceredigion and Powys County Council’s to both the Wales and UK Governments.
The sectors to develop as part of the growth deal are:
· Agriculture, Food and Drink
· Research and innovation
· Tourism
· Energy
· Digital connectivity
· Supporting Business start ups
There are no specific proposals at the moment as the emphasis has been on getting the right legal structure in place.
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