Contents

Executive Summary

1.Overview of the Economic Regeneration Strategy

1.1A new vision for Ealing

1.2The opportunities

1.3Spreading the benefits of regeneration

1.4The Regeneration Strategy’s objective and themes

1.5Six achievements that will transform Ealing

2.Justification of the strategy

2.1Summary

2.2Some key facts about Ealing

2.3What is likely to shape Ealing’s economy over the next twenty years?

3.The London and West London Context

4.The Strategy’s Four Themes

4.1Strategy Theme: Sustainable development of the environment, property and infrastructure

4.1.1The Heathrow-Paddington Sustainable Growth Corridor

4.1.2Park Royal and the A40 Corridor

4.1.3Protecting and developing Ealing’s town centres

4.2Strategy Theme: Sustainable growth of businesses and jobs

4.2.1Growth sectors: promoting indigenous growth and inward investment

4.2.2Promoting the enterprise culture among under-represented groups

4.2.3What the Council can do to support local businesses

4.3Strategy Theme: Education, skills and economic inclusion

4.4Strategy Theme: Management and Resources......

4.4.1Management structures

4.4.2Powers and resources

5.Opportunities, themes, projects and how they interrelate

5.1Heathrow-Paddington Corridor

5.2Growth of new and incoming businesses

5.3Park Royal/A40 corridor

5.4Ensuring wider benefits

6.Implications of this strategy for other strategies

7.Measuring Success

Ealing Economic Regeneration Strategy: Summary 16.05.06

Executive Summary

  1. This strategy proposes actions to build the economic strength of Ealing and to put in place the economic and physical links that are necessary if all areas and communities are to be able to take advantage of economic growth and of related improvements to town centres, housing, the environment, health, sports and cultural facilities. In this way, it will help to make a reality of the new vision for the Borough:

By 2016 Ealing will be a successful borough at the heart of west London, where everyone has the opportunities to prosper and live fulfilling lives in communities which are safe, cohesive and engaged.

  1. This strategy draws on the global national, London and West London context but is based on Ealing’s specific opportunities and needs. The overriding objective of the Strategy is:

To capture the benefits of Ealing’s globally significant location and development opportunities through ambitious investment, infrastructure and sector initiatives.

  1. Ealing’s regeneration will be based on opportunities in

the Heathrow-Paddington Sustainable Growth Corridor;

Park Royal and the A40 corridor;

business sectors with the capacity to expand;

Ealing’s town centres;
and on

transport services that ensure these opportunities are easily accessible from all parts of the borough.

  1. The strategy links economic regeneration with action on housing, health, education and transport, in order to ensure that all of Ealing’s residents benefit from and contribute to making the most of these opportunities.
  2. The strategy has three guiding principles: quality, sustainability and inclusion.
  3. The strategy is organised around four themes:

Place: Sustainable development of the environment, property and infrastructure

Enterprise: Sustainable growth of businesses and jobs

People: Education, skills & economic inclusion

Leadership: Management and Resources

  1. Arising out of these themes, Ealing will pursue six central activities designed to transform the way Ealing pursues regeneration and brings benefits to its residents:
  1. To establish Southall as the gateway to Europe for investment from South Asia by creating on 60 hectares of brownfield land a high-density, high-quality, public-transport-based development suitable for enterprises in the ‘knowledge industries’, enhanced by high-quality housing, retail, hotels, leisure and entertainment activities and a particularly ‘green’ environment.
  2. Through a partnership with major landowners, to ensure the high-quality redevelopment of central Ealing, with a set of landmark buildings and distinctive features that will differentiate central Ealing from other metropolitan centres and draw the maximum benefit from its transport connections.
  3. To strengthen the north of the Borough by encouraging the growth of modern, flexible companies in the A40 corridor, building on Ealing’s traditional strength in supplying and servicing of other businesses at Heathrow Airport, in Central London and in the Thames Valley, resulting in the redevelopment of at least 20 hectares of brownfield land.
  4. To increase the economic activity rate in Ealing from 72.8 % to 75% and to ensure that in no wards, compared with the present 19, do more than 20% of households have an annual income lower than the fifth statistical band (currently £20,000-£25,000).
  5. To work with the Learning and Skills Council to develop a credible skills strategy that increases the proportion of residents of working age qualified at Level 3 or above from 49% to 60%; and those at Level 4 and above from 35.2% to 45%, in order to support a high-skill, high-wage economy.
  6. To make Ealing’s town centres a focus of investment in order to maximise local opportunities and promote economically and environmentally sustainable development.
  1. A set of tables in Section 5 in this strategy shows the opportunities and the themes in relation to these six key achievements, and the projects that will underpin them.
  2. Over the past twenty-five years, Ealing has seen most of the former manufacturing sites change their use to distribution, head offices or to various hybrid activities. Areas such as Acton and Southall which had supplied a high proportion of the employees in manufacturing suffered particularly badly. Social problems resulted and parts of these areas became known as poor and undesirable areas. By the time growth started again, there was a wide gap between the skills needed for many of the new jobs and the skills available in these areas. This process was repeated in the early 1990s.
  3. The long period of growth from the mid-1990s has eased the position but there are still significant needs for skills development and for special initiatives to ensure people in the greatest difficulty can enter employment. The regeneration partnerships are all implementing such initiatives, in co-operation with the Council and Jobcentre Plus.

The former manufacturing belt where Ealing’s economic strength originally developed

A new framework for regeneration in Ealing – opportunities and connections

  1. Ealing is now far more dependent on office, retail and leisure employment than on manufacturing. This makes its town centres particularly significant as concentrations of economic activity, in addition to their important retail and cultural functions.
  2. Technological change and the growth of India and China will have a direct impact on Ealing, influencing the location and type of manufacturing but also the demand for services provided in London for global companies and their suppliers.
  3. Transport improvements, with direct links to Heathrow through Ealing Broadway and Southall (via ‘Heathrow Connect’ and later Crossrail), are making Ealing an attractive destination for inward investment. India can be central to this, for the benefit of London as a whole.
  4. The size and strength of Ealing’s diverse communities, and their established connections with the Sub-continent, give the Borough an advantage it can readily build on to encourage new investment.

What is likely to shape Ealing’s economy over the next twenty years?

  1. Substantial areas of land are potentially available at key points along the Heathrow-Paddington corridor for major inward investment as well as for the growth of existing firms. These are large enough, at least in Southall, to enable developments of national significance but with enormous local benefits to take place.
  2. The Park Royal/A40 corridor remains attractive for firms supplying goods or services to Central London. It provides a mix of economic activities and employment in modern manufacturing, logistics, and offices. For some firms, the connection outwards to the Thames Valley and Oxford is important.
  3. Orbital public transport services linking to the Heathrow-Paddington corridor at Southall, Ealing Centre and Acton Main Line, are not yet good enough for all of Ealing’s residents and businesses to benefit from the transformed radial links. This is a major deficiency which needs to be overcome, particularly for residents in the north and north-west of the borough.
  4. The number of jobs available across the West London sub-region is not matched by the supply of suitably educated or skilled people seeking employment. At the same time, Ealing has a relatively small but still significant number of people seeking but not obtaining employment.
  5. A way of ensuring inclusion is to enable people to participate fully in the economy. This involves action under all themes listed above, but also specific action to ensure people have the necessary education and skills and are helped to overcome other obstacles facing particular groups or communities. It will also involve working to increase the proportion of residents qualified at Level 3 and Level 4 in order to support a high-skill, high-wage economy.
  6. The major programme of housing renewal is central to the regeneration of Ealing.
  7. This strategy will be implemented through the Ealing Local Strategic Partnership, with the Council’s Director for Business and Community Development taking a lead role.
  8. The strategy will help to bring together activity around economic and physical development, transport and other infrastructure and will help to ensure that activity on education, housing, health, crime, children and young people and social cohesion helps to achieve the strategy’s objectives and the objectives of the Community Strategy.

Phil Leask, Rosecliffe Associates 1

Ealing Economic Regeneration Strategy: Summary 16.05.06

1.Overview of the Economic Regeneration Strategy

1.1A new vision for Ealing

The Ealing Local Strategic Partnership’s consultation draft for the new Community Strategy, Success through Diversity (April 2006), sets out a new vision for the Borough:

By 2016 Ealing will be a successful borough at the heart of west London, where everyone has the opportunities to prosper and live fulfilling lives in communities which are safe, cohesive and engaged.

This strategy proposes actions to build the economic strength of Ealing and to put in place the economic and physical links that are necessary if all areas and communities are to be able to take advantage of economic growth and of related improvements to town centres, housing, the environment, health, sports and cultural facilities. In this way, it will help to make a reality of the new vision.

1.2The opportunities

Ealing’s regeneration will be based on opportunities in

the Heathrow-Paddington Sustainable Growth Corridor;

Park Royal and the A40 corridor;

business sectors with the capacity to expand;

Ealing’s town centres;and on

transport services that ensure these opportunities are easily accessible from all parts of the borough.

Figure 1: A framework for regeneration in Ealing – opportunities and connections

1.3Spreading the benefits of regeneration

The strategy links economic regeneration with action on housing, health, education and transport, in order to ensure that all of Ealing’s residents benefit from and contribute to making the most of these opportunities. In line with other Ealing strategies, there is a particular emphasis on people in Southall, Acton and parts of the north of the Borough who are not benefiting fully from the present strong economic conditions in Ealing.

The strategy has three guiding principles: Quality, Sustainability and Inclusion. Good-quality development, particularly in economically strong sectors, contributes to economic and environmental sustainability and to raising the quality of life. Social and economic inclusion is socially just, and should be one of the important outcomes of this strategy. It also contributes to economic sustainability.

1.4The Regeneration Strategy’s objective and themes

This Strategy draws on the global national, London and West London context but is based on Ealing’s specific opportunities and needs. The overriding objective of the Strategy is:

To capture the benefits of Ealing’s globally significant location and development opportunities through ambitious investment, infrastructure and sector initiatives.

The Strategy is organised around four themes:

Place: / Sustainable development of the environment, property and infrastructure
Enterprise: / Sustainable growth of businesses and jobs
People: / Education, skills & economic inclusion
Leadership: / Management and Resources

1.5Six achievements that will transform Ealing

Arising out of these themes, Ealing will pursue six central activities designed to transform the way Ealing pursues regeneration and brings benefits to its residents:

1)To establish Southall as the gateway to Europe for investment from South Asia by creating on 60 hectares of brownfield land a high-density, high-quality, public-transport-based development suitable for enterprises in the ‘knowledge industries’, enhanced by high-quality housing, retail, hotels, leisure and entertainment activities and a particularly ‘green’ environment.

2)Through a partnership with major landowners, to ensure the high-quality redevelopment of central Ealing, with a set of landmark buildings and distinctive features that will differentiate central Ealing from other metropolitan centres and draw the maximum benefit from its transport connections.

3)To strengthen the north of the Borough by encouraging the growth of modern, flexible companies in the A40 corridor, building on Ealing’s traditional strength in supplying and servicing of other businesses at Heathrow Airport, in Central London and in the Thames Valley, resulting in the redevelopment of at least 20 hectares of brownfield land.

4)To increase the economic activity rate in Ealing from 72.8 % to 75% and to ensure that in no wards, compared with the present 19, do more than 20% of households have an annual income lower than the fifth statistical band (currently £20,000-£25,000).

5)To work with the Learning and Skills Council to develop a credible skills strategy that increases the proportion of residents of working age qualified at Level 3 or above from 49% to 60%; and those at Level 4 and above from 35.2% to 45%, in order to support a high-skill, high-wage economy.

6)To make Ealing’s town centres a focus of investment in order to maximise local opportunities and promote economically and environmentally sustainable development.

2.Justification of the strategy

2.1Summary

Over the past twenty-five years, Ealing has seen most of the former manufacturing sites change their use to distribution, head offices or to various hybrid activities. The suddenness and harshness of this process at its most intense – during the early 1980s – had a lasting impact. It left concentrations of unemployment and an awareness for many people of the underlying fragility of the economy even in times of prolonged growth.

Ealing is now far more dependent on office, retail and leisure employment than on manufacturing. This makes its town centres particularly significant as concentrations of economic activity, in addition to their important retail and cultural functions. Some key growth sectors, such as media, are heavily concentrated in areas such as central Ealing. The public sector, including the local authority, the health service and education, is a substantial employer and market for goods and services. Heathrow Airport, outside the borough, is a major source of employment for Ealing residents.

Technological change and the growth of India and China will have a direct impact on Ealing, influencing the location and type of manufacturing but also the demand for services provided in London for global companies and their suppliers.

Transport improvements, with direct links to Heathrow through Ealing Broadway and Southall (via ‘Heathrow Connect’ and later Crossrail), are making Ealing an attractive destination for inward investment. India can be central to this, for the benefit of London as a whole.

The size and strength of Ealing’s diverse communities, and their established connections with the Sub-continent, give the Borough an advantage it can readily build on to encourage new investment.

Substantial areas of land are potentially available at key points along the Heathrow-Paddington corridor for major inward investment as well as for the growth of existing firms. These are large enough, at least in Southall, to enable developments of national significance but with enormous local benefits to take place.

The Park Royal/A40 corridor remains attractive for firms supplying goods or services to Central London. It provides a mix of economic activities and employment in modern manufacturing, logistics, and offices. For some firms, the connection outwards to the Thames Valley and Oxford is important.

Orbital public transport services linking to the Heathrow-Paddington corridor at Southall, Ealing Centre and Acton Main Line, are not yet good enough for all of Ealing’s residents and businesses to benefit from the transformed radial links. This is a major deficiency which needs to be overcome, particularly for residents in the north and north-west of the borough.

Strong communities are also outward-looking communities, whose members play a full part in the society and take advantage of the full range of opportunities available. The transformation of housing in Southall, Acton and in some of the outlying areas will improve the quality of life of residents. However, in order to enable all residents to have ‘the opportunity to prosper and lead fulfilling lives’, these improvements need to be matched by concerted efforts to raise educational levels, to reduce health inequalities, to make appropriate skills training easily available and, through public transport services, to make employment but also wider cultural, leisure and sporting opportunities easily accessible from the improved housing areas.

2.2Some key facts about Ealing

2.3What is likely to shape Ealing’s economy over the next twenty years?