Last week Interim Strategy Director Jonathan Spruce joined Cllr Judith Blake and Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe in Bradford to discuss the Strategic Transport Plan and our Investment Programme, and what it means for people and business of Leeds City Region.
Having worked on the Strategic Transport Plan and the Investment Programme for several years, to see it approved by the Transport for the North board in February was really special. The product of all those hours that officers, councillors and business leaders put in over the last few years is this single plan, which outlines our collective vision for the North – a Plan written by the North, for the North.
The Plan is essentially a blueprint, which outlines how a transformed North could be delivered, and the real legacy will be based on our ability to deliver it. Given our remit is pan-Northern it’s sometimes difficult to translate big strategic investment with improving people’s daily lives. Over the last few months, myself and Transport for the North colleagues have been touring the North, talking to local people, civic leaders and businesses about the importance of the plan and what it will mean for them and future generations. Having been welcomed to West Yorkshire, the tour came to a close yesterday in Bradford – but what’s become clear over the last few months is that there is real momentum behind our plans, and a commitment from every corner of the North to deliver real change.
The possibilities and potential in Leeds City Region and Bradford are massive. From the FinTech Industry in Leeds to the Advanced Manufacturing of the Aire Valley, the region is brimming with opportunity. Our role is to ensure that strongly performing sectors in the North continue to grow, by supporting them to trade and collaborate, and to ensure that better transport links attract new investment and opportunities too.
For people in Leeds, the improvements through Northern Powerhouse Rail are set to be transformational, reducing the journey time between the city and Manchester from 46 to just 25 minutes, with a service every 10 minutes. That means if you’re a working parent who lives in Leeds, you could easily work in Manchester and not have to worry about getting home at short notice. And if you’re a business based in the heart of West Yorkshire, projects like NPR will provide access to new talent pools, so you could attract new employees from as far away as Newcastle and can quickly and easily meet and collaborate with businesses in Hull.
Equally as important, shorter-term improvements to existing rail links such as the Calder Valley Line and road links such as the M1 and M65/A59 corridor will dramatically improve people’s daily commutes and make it quicker and easier for northern-based businesses to move goods and services.
Leeds has attracted big name investment from the likes of Burberry and Channel 4, but it’s also home to a burgeoning digital sector, and there’s lots of young PR firms cutting their cloth in the city. It’s an exciting time to be in Leeds and I’m looking forward to watching how the city and its people take advantage of improvements to local, regional and national transport links.
Bradford has one of the youngest populations of any city in the UK, and in many ways represents the prize on offer for the North. It’s been held back by poor transport links but investment over the next few years and beyond will define how young people in Bradford live and work. It will affect if they have access to opportunities – by both attracting industries and businesses to provide them with good quality jobs close to home, and by ensuring they can easily get to these opportunities.
If we deliver the transport schemes outlined in our investment programme, young people in cities like Bradford will no longer be held back and we’ll no longer lose talent to the South because of better transport links and easy access to opportunity. Instead transport will enable the young people of Bradford to pursue their dreams and give them a real choice about what to do with their future. And by keeping our talented young people in the North, and giving them access to new and better opportunities, they’ll help our Northern economy to grow.
Being in Bradford brought it home for me – this is what this plan is all about, giving our young people in the North access to unprecedented opportunities. This is why we believe the Plan is more than a transport plan, and whilst it was a real achievement to get it approved by leaders from across the North, the hard work has really just begun.
We can take heart from the fact that what we’re working towards is incredibly important and life changing, and that there’s support from all corners of the North to deliver real change for our communities. We’ll continue to work with our partners in Bradford, in Leeds City Region and indeed across the North, to deliver our plan – by the North, for the North.
In the video below, Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and Transport for the North Board Member, talks about the importance of transport for unleashing potential in the Leeds City Region.