Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Retro-fit programme and Green Deal The Eco-town is developing a programme of support to stimulate the demand and take-up of retrofitting in Whitehill & Bordon. This work will generate a demand for assessors, equipment and installers that will create a local market that will be of interest to manufacturers and suppliers etc. This local market development will be important to demonstrate the value of investing in the town.
Incentives The question of incentives to encourage businesses to locate in the Eco-town has been raised in several arenas. Government has created initiatives and competitive funding programmes to stimulate the economy and support job and housing growth. These include: Enterprise Zones that can offer business rate relief and a simplified planning regime through local development orders, Regional Growth Fund that supports investment in infrastructure to generate jobs, Growing Places Fund which is administered through the local enterprise partnerships and is a revolving fund to invest in infrastructure that will bring forward development and is repaid through a charge on the development.
Multi Utility Service Companies (MUSCO) and Energy Service Companies (ESCO) The scale of development proposed and the need to ensure the existing community contributes to meeting the Eco-town target of carbon and water neutrality means there is an opportunity to consider the way energy and water is generated, collected, stored, transferred, used and managed. This will create a market and investment opportunity as it will involve the delivery of upgraded and new utility infrastructure with a new approach to their management though local management companies.
The Eco-town will continue to submit projects for investment to these funding programmes along with seeking other sources of funding to stimulate and kick-start investment in sites.
Business Networks It is known that businesses locating to an area are interested in the local business networks which will enable them to make links with others in the area. The town does not currently have an active business network, so with the support of organisations such as Business East Hants and the Hampshire Chambers of Commerce it is the intention a develop a local network.
Over and above these grant programmes the local authority may choose to fund and offer incentives on specific development sites, however the benefits and impacts of introducing a scheme would have to be thoroughly investigated, costed and fit with the council’s corporate objectives and overall viability of the Eco-town regeneration. A commitment to undertake this work is included in the action plan.
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