Whitehall Meets Greater Brighton - Day One

Improvements to transport infrastructure, help with easing the pressure on housing demand, the potential of the £1bn digital sector were all on the agenda as were tours to stand out projects in the region.

The civil servants were to be taken for a flight on the i360 attraction, shown the Digital Catapult Centre in Brighton, the University of Brighton's Advanced Engineering Centre and a series of Adur District Council driven developments at Shoreham Harbour, the Tidal Walls and the redevelopment of the old civic centre.

The Greater Brighton City Region is made up of six local authorities Adur District Council, Crawley Borough Council, Brighton and Hove City Council, Lewes District Council, Mid Sussex District Council and Worthing Borough Council.

Already the governing body the Greater Brighton Economic Board (GBEB) has secured £150m of funding for projects in the region since its founding in 2014.

GBEB sees the promotion of the Greater Brighton City Region as a vital way of delivering economic growth and prosperity to the area, promoting it as a coherent unit for investment and development.

 

As local authorities in the north of England combine to press the case for the "Northern Powerhouse" GBEB believes it is vital that the region does not miss out.

It wants the government to help continue helping the region pointing out that productivity is below national average while house prices are 12 times average income and transport infrastructure, vital to economic growth, is poor.

Chairman of GBEB and leader of Lewes District Council, Cllr Andy Smith said:

"This is a great opportunity to have our voice heard by some important people in Whitehall.

"By coming together as a Greater Brighton region we have a better chance of bringing coherent strategies on housing, transport and the economy."

 

Brighton and Hove City Council's Chief Executive Geoff Raw said:

GBEB was a "coalition of the willing with huge ambitions to make things happen."