How to develop the future at the Western Gateway Development Conference 2022
In November, the Western Gateway held a pan-region business-led conference in Bristol to understand where South Wales and Western England can better work together. For his first event as partnership director, John Wilkinson reflects on the event and what he took away.
The Western Gateway Development Conference 2022 was the second conference the partnership held this year and the first I have been able to attend as the new director.
Organised in collaboration with Built Environment Network, the conference was another excellent opportunity to bring together businesses and leaders from across South Wales and Western England to discuss how we can make the most of our area’s potential.
The agenda for the day was based in part around our partnership’s core missions to overcome productivity challenges to add £34 billion to the UK economy, reach net zero, support innovation and better connect our communities.
Opening the day’s talks, our chair, Katherine Bennett CBE, set out the scale of the partnership’s achievements over the last year and its ambitions for the future. Most importantly, was a call to all those attending to get involved with the work of the partnership in order to deliver our missions.
To achieve our ambitions – we need the support of everyone and I look forward to continuing some of those conversations we started at the conference in the new year.
Next up our Vice Chair and Leader of Newport City Council, Cllr Jane Mudd, joined a panel of businesses discussing future infrastructure alongside one of our Independent Business Representatives, Ben Pritchard. Both provided an early glimpse of our 2050 Vision for rail across South Wales and Western England.
As the area which is home to the least well-connected Core City in the UK, improving both physical and digital connectivity has always been a key aim of our partnership. I look forward to sharing more details as we look to make the case next year to government about why we believe the Western Gateway should be next in line for major infrastructure development.
This was followed by a roundtable looking at net zero initiatives from across the area. Our area is filled with great engineering talent and firms looking to pioneer new technologies to overcome challenges with reaching our zero carbon emission targets.
Dr Katie Lidster, from our Strategic Partners at the GW4 Alliance, did a great job in setting out the scale and ambition of our Western Gateway Hydrogen Ecosystem. This included why we think South Wales and South West England have a unique combination of industries which makes us a perfect place to trial the development of an economy driven by Hydrogen as a new green energy source.
Later, we heard from another board member and Leader of Swindon Borough Council, Cllr David Rennard, as he gave an insight into the scale of development planned in his area as Swindon continues to grow sustainably to meet demand.
We also heard from Cllr Tom Renhard, Bristol City Council, and our other partners such as Bath and North East Somerset Council as they discussed how they too are working to meet the challenge of a growing population in a sustainable way.
In the Western Gateway, we know we have something special to offer. With outstanding natural beauty and leading cultural landmarks, we have the conditions to attract world class talent and boost the incredible industries which are based here. Through our partnership we want to take this to the next level and deliver for the UK.
As this year draws to an end I can’t wait to see what we can achieve in 2023.
