Wrexham S Rural Development Strategy

WREXHAM’S RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

A Report

February 2000

Wrexham County Borough Council
Welsh Development Agency

CELTEC

Wrexham's Rural Development Strategy

A Report

DTZ Pieda Consulting

6th Floor

26 Cross Street

Manchester

M2 7AF

Tel: 0161 839 5107

Fax: 0161 834 2055

Also at

Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff,

Edinburgh, Leeds, London and Reading

January 2000

CONTENTS

1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : the strategy in outline

The Strategic Objectives......

The Process of Developing the Strategy: The Next Steps......

2.INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND......

The Key ‘Drivers for Change’ That Are Likely to Affect Rural Wrexham

Next Steps......

3.THE CURRENT SITUATION AND PROBLEMS TO BE ADDRESSED.

Key Messages from the Economic Baseline Assessment......

Key Messages from the Employers’ Survey......

Key Messages from the Household Survey......

Key Messages from the Community Councils’ Survey......

Issues and Opportunities within the Wider Policy Context......

4.THE aims and OBJECTIVES of the strategy

Projects Proposed under the Business Growth and Development Theme....

Timescales......

Project Proposed under the Skills and Training Theme......

Projects Proposed under the Agriculture and Environmental Economy Theme

Timescales......

5.IMPLEMEnTATION, performance and review

Structure for Implementation: Wrexham County Borough Council......

Wider Partnership Mechanisms......

Partnership with the Local Community......

Monitoring and Review......

Appendices

A. The Rural Wrexham Business Survey

B. The Household Survey

C. The Policy Context

Quality Assurance Record
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Ref: 99/14085-8/SJL/RAC

• Wrexham's Rural Development Strategy •

1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : the strategy in outline

1.1This is the first attempt by Wrexham County Borough Council to prepare a comprehensive response to the development needs of its rural hinterland. The Strategy has been designed to address the needs of 12 wards in the County Borough’s rural area over the 2000-2005 period.

1.2It is fully intended that the Rural Strategy be an integrated response to the economic, environmental and community issues confronting the Rural Wrexham area. The Strategy begins by investigating these three inter-linking elements at a general level, providing a context for more detailed study into each of the three sectors.

1.3In the first stage of the strategy the Council has requested that detailed consideration be given to sustainable employment and wealth creation issues, demonstrating where possible, the linkages with 'environment' and 'community'. (See Figure 1.1 below, which illustrates the three elements and their interactions). The 'environment' and 'community' elements will be investigated in greater depth, as further stages of the strategy development process forming part of the first rural action plan.

1.4'Employment' has been given greater emphasis in the first stage because of its priority at European and national levels and within the Council's own mission statement.

1.5Moreover, it is fully recognised that the Rural Strategy for Wrexham must operate successfully alongside other strategies and policies, including those promoted by partner organisations as well as those within the County Borough Council. The Rural Strategy must complement - and reinforce where appropriate - the aims and objectives of other policies that have a bearing on the socio-economic conditions within the Wrexham rural area. It is also necessary that the Rural Strategy recognise and be responsive to the emerging and changing policy environment in Wales, not least because of the need for the Rural Wrexham Strategy to draw upon other sources of funding if it is to be successful. The Rural Strategy for Wrexham must be adaptive and fully capable of responding positively to change.

Key Issues and Opportunities to be Grasped

1.6A number of significant issues and opportunities currently confront the Rural Wrexham area. Ultimately, the success or otherwise of the Strategy will depend on its responsiveness to these challenges. The research and other preparatory work that has been undertaken in support of this Strategy indicates that the most pressing of these challenges are as follows:

The rural area continues to be heavily dependent to a large extent on the manufacturing sector for employment. The problem is compounded because the area’s manufacturing employment tends to be concentrated within sectors that, nationally, are forecast to grow only slowly or even decline over the next five to ten years. In the medium term, therefore, the rural area’s employment base is vulnerable to re-structuring and rationalisation. New sources of jobs must be developed if the economic prosperity of the area is to be maintained, let alone improved.

The economic fortunes of the rural area are also significantly threatened by the severe decline in the fortunes of the area’s agricultural sector. Although we have little empirical evidence of the extent of the most recent decline at the micro-level of the Wrexham rural area, we know that farm incomes in Wales as a whole have fallen by around 80% since 1996/97. This represents a severe threat to the area's 700 or so farm holdings. As well as the primary impacts of the declining fortunes of the area’s farming businesses, there will also be a range of knock-on impacts on other rural businesses and services as rural spending power is reduced.

A key factor in the creation and continuation of economic success is investment in education, the training of the workforce, and the development of the capacity for innovation and the exploitation of new ideas. Survey and ‘top-down’ evidence suggests, however, that the human resource base of Rural Wrexham is insufficiently trained and qualified in modern workplace - relevant skills to be fully flexible and adaptive to increasing competitive pressures.
Survey evidence also suggests that a shortage of skills is the main impediment to improved economic performance in Rural Wrexham. Moreover, there is insufficient evidence among local businesses of a budgetary commitment to training.
Although Wrexham County Borough Council already possesses an effective and well-regarded tourism development strategy, scope exists foradding value to the development of the rural tourism product.
Opportunities also exist to develop the ‘environmental economy’ of rural Wrexham. In the context of Rural Wrexham, environmentally responsible products could include produce (such as food and timber) from sustainable land management systems, but also activities (such as sustainable tourism) that link the local economy with the area’s built and natural heritage.
There are also opportunities to develop further the range and quality of community services provided to the Rural Wrexham area by the private, public and voluntary sectors.
Primary research conducted for this strategy also provides evidence of poor and/or declining provision for services in some isolated communities in the rural Wrexham area.

The Strategic Objectives

1.7The analysis of the economic and other challenges confronting Rural Wrexham (summarised in Section 3 of this document, but also analysed in greater detail in the supplementary Rural Wrexham Baseline Assessment report[1]) leads us to propose the following ‘mission statement’ for the Rural Wrexham Strategy.

1.8It is further proposed that the Rural Strategy embrace the following five strategic themes:

Strategic Theme 1 - Business Growth and Development: developing a more competitive and dynamic business base
Strategic Theme 2 - Skills and Training: facilitating a more flexible, adaptive and highly skilled workforce
Strategic Theme 3 - Sustainable Tourism: encouraging high value tourism in the rural areas in a sustainable manner
Strategic Theme 4 – Environmental Economy: stimulating the environmental economy of Rural Wrexham
Strategic Theme 5 – Access to Services: facilitating communities’ and individuals’ access to services and facilitating community development.

1.9Each of these Strategic Themes is itself supported, in turn, by a number of operational objectives and proposed project ideas. It is by supporting specific projects that the Rural Strategy will be able to generate direct outputs and outcomes that will enable the ambitions of the Strategy to be achieved.

1.10Altogether, 16 projects are proposed by the Wrexham Rural Strategy. Although a few of the projects are specific in nature (that is, they relate to the development or improvement of a specific site or facility), the majority of projects have been deliberately designed as ‘umbrella’ projects. That is, these are projects capable of supporting strands of activity of a defined type wherever or whenever suitable conditions arise over the lifetime of the Strategy.

1.11Table 1.1 below summarises the indicative costs and target outputs of the 16 recommended projects that together support the objectives of the Wrexham Rural Strategy.

Table 1.1
Rural Wrexham: Anticipated Lifetime Costs and Outputs, 2000-2005
Project Name / Indicative Project Lifetime Costs (£) / Indicative Key
Lifetime Outputs
Personal Business Advisers / £200,000 /

375 new jobs
500 safeguarded jobs
£5m private investment

Rural Business Networks / £75,000 /

5 collaborative projects

Small Towns Plus / £100,000 /

75 jobs created
100 jobs safeguarded
£0.25m private investment

Rural Enterprise Project / £200,000 /

75 new business starts
125 new jobs created
£1m private investment

Rural Business Premises / £500,000 /

10 new business starts
20 new jobs created
40 jobs safeguarded

Skills Needs Analysis / £200,000 /

250 businesses advised
500 employees receiving training

Ready for Work and Training / £150,000 /

400 individuals receiving training

Sustainable Countryside Tourism / £300,000 /

15 new business starts
50 new jobs

Ceiriog Memorial Institute / £350,000 /

3 jobs created

Glyn Valley Tramway / £140,000 /

5 jobs created

Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse / £20,000 /

1 feasibility study

Adding Value to Local Foods / £400,000 /

80 jobs created
200 jobs safeguarded
£0.25m private investment

Adding Value to Non-Food Produce / £300,000 /

60 jobs created
150 jobs safeguarded
£0.25m private investment

Village Services Development / £125,000 /

40 jobs created
200 jobs safeguarded
£0.5m private investment

Village Hall Investment Fund / £500,000 /

1 new village hall
up to 10 improved community meeting places

Community Enterprise Support / £250,000 /

15 new community businesses
20 new jobs

£0.5m private investment

Total
(funding and key outputs only) / £3,810,000 /

803 jobs created
1,190 jobs safeguarded
£7.75m private investment

1.12The overall lifetime costs of the Strategy are expected to amount to £3.81 million. To achieve the full potential of the Strategy, however, it will be necessary for the local authority to succeed in convincing existing and potential partner organisations – as well as other funding sources, such as the European Commission – that the Strategy for Rural Wrexham is sufficiently innovative and relevant to their own strategic objectives to be worthy of support. In short, the need for a partnership and collaborative approach to implementing the Rural Strategy will be vital to its success. The estimate for overall lifetime costs for the Strategy, therefore, is inclusive of anticipated investment from other public and private sector funding sources.

1.13The successful delivery of all aspects of the Strategy will clearly be dependent on the ability of the partners to make a successful case for additional funding to be made available from sources identified in this Strategy.

Implementation and Review

1.14The success of the Strategy will also depend in large part on developing an effective and collaborative approach to implementation. Key elements of the recommended approach are as follows:

Establishment of a Rural Strategy Steering Panel responsible for superintending the delivery of the Strategy. The Rural Strategy Steering Panel would comprise representatives from the Council and its key partners
Regular reporting of progress on the Strategy to the Rural Strategy Steering Panel and the posting of these reports on the Council’s internet web-site, also providing opportunity for feedback

Adherence to a rigorous and defined monitoring and performance review process.
Full involvement of existing partnerships and fora, and utilisation wherever appropriate and practicable of existing delivery mechanisms.

1.15The key features of the recommended process of performance review are as follows:

The quarterly reporting of progress to the Rural Strategy Steering Panel
Annual review and updating of the action plan by officers and presentation to the Rural Strategy Steering Panel
Annual opportunity for the community councils, businesses and the wider public to comment on the annual report and the revised action plan
Use of the internet to facilitate wider dissemination of information and opportunities for feedback on the annual report and the revised action plan

The Process of Developing the Strategy: The Next Steps

1.16The task of developing the Wrexham Rural Strategy is intended to be a comprehensive and inclusive process. The findings of the research undertaken to date has culminated in the production of this, the consultative draft Rural Strategy for Wrexham. The anticipated next steps are as follows:

Publication of the consultation draft Rural Strategy (by March, 2000) and receipt of comments (by the end of April, 2000)
Review and finalisation of the strategy
Identification of lead officers and delivery partners to take forward the strategic themes of the Rural Strategy, and to discuss, assess and prioritise actions, based on potential for impact, value for money and performance considerations
Develop a specific action plan to enable implementation of the Strategy for agreement by the Rural Strategy Steering Panel (by October 2000) and delivered by the Partners.

1.17This consultation process is described in detail and illustrated in Figure 5.1 at the end of this document.

1.18In the spirit of this process, therefore, comments and feedback on this consultative draft Rural Strategy for Wrexham are, obviously, entirely welcomed.

2.INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The Rationale for the Strategy

2.1The annual corporate strategy statement produced by Wrexham County Borough Council recognises the importance of both an ‘attractive and viable rural hinterland’ and ‘revitalised and distinctive rural communities’. Further, the Council’s economic development strategy recognises that promoting the viability of rural areas demands an integrated approach, encompassing economic, environmental, social and cultural aspects.

2.2The broad thrust of the local authority’s economic development approach to date, however, has tended to focus on the considerable economic development needs of the Borough’s urban areas. Despite this, rural development has been, and is, very much on the policy agenda for Wrexham. This is evidenced by the local authority’s provision of financial and other support for, amongst others:

the development of tourism in rural areas;
the Cadwyn LEADER group work in Chirk and the Ceiriog Valley;
initiatives such as the North Wales Farm Timber Conversion Project;
the Ceiriog Valley Hardwood Initiative;
the grant-aiding of small projects through the Rural Scheme; and
the appointment of a specialist rural development officer to develop and implement rural development policy in the Borough’s rural area.

2.3Moreover, the rationale for a Wrexham Rural Strategy is reinforced by the fact that as much as 70% of the Borough’s area can reasonably be described as rural in nature, and that this area contains about 24% of the Borough’s population, a proportion that is growing.

2.4Nevertheless, this is the first attempt by the Council to prepare a comprehensive response to the development needs of its rural hinterland. It is fully intended, therefore, that the Rural Strategy be an integrated response, reflecting in part the increasing recognition at all levels – and particularly at the level of the European Union – of the need for integrated responses to the challenges facing rural areas. The integrated approach to the Rural Wrexham strategy therefore will address economic, environmental and community issues, although greatest weight (at least in the early years) is to be placed on economic issues.

2.5Establishing an integrated rural development strategy at this point in time also reflects upon a desire to build upon and extend the successes that have been achieved through the local authority’s support for, and active participation in the Cadwyn LEADER project. To date, the geographic coverage of the Cadwyn activity in Wrexham’s area has been confined to the designated Objective 5 (b) area (that is, essentially, Chirk and the Ceiriog Valley). The Wrexham Rural Strategy is to cover a wider area than that benefiting from the Objective 5(b) definition; the coverage of the strategy area is denoted on Map 2.1 overleaf.

2.6The creation of an integrated Rural Strategy for Wrexham will be an essential pre-requisite for successful bids for additional support for the area from the European Structural Funds and increasingly for funding from other sources also.

The Process of Developing the Strategy

2.7The task of developing the draft Wrexham Rural Strategy has been a comprehensive and inclusive process. The sequence of tasks that have comprised the strategy building process to date, is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 2.1 overleaf, and summarised below:

Appointment of DTZ Pieda Consulting to undertake an economic baseline assessment and other research in support of the Rural Strategy
Desk research undertaken by consultants to identify (using ‘top-down’ data sources) the existing and likely future socio-economic problems and opportunities confronting Rural Wrexham
Consultations with a wide range of partner organisations among the public, private and voluntary sectors in Wrexham
A bespoke survey of rural community councils in the Rural Wrexham study area
A telephone survey of around 50 businesses in the Rural Wrexham study area, supplemented by in-depth discussions with principal employers.
A survey involving around 300 households in the Rural Wrexham area.
Development of the strategic framework, including the mission statement, strategic themes and operational objectives.
Identification of specific project ideas.
The preparation of the draft strategy document itself.