Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation will be moving to the Civic Offices in Grays on March 21st.
The move, which has been sanctioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government, will enable the Corporation to work more closely with Thurrock Council to ensure the smooth transition when its functions revert to the local authority in April 2012.
Over the next 12 months the Development Corporation will be working with the Council to ensure the long term future of its key projects and will look to move key skills and personnel where necessary.
From 1 April 2012 the Development Corporation will cease to exist and its planning jurisdiction will transfer to Thurrock Council.
Niall Lindsay, Chief Executive of the Development Corporation, said: “The move to the Civic offices in Grays will give us the best opportunity to achieve a smooth transition of the Corporation’s live projects and its planning functions to the Council in April 2012.”
“Everyone at the Corporation is immensely proud of the transformational regeneration projects that we have established with the support of the Council and other key stakeholders over the last six years and the investor confidence we have created with our portfolio of master plans, development briefs and design briefs.”
“We are committed to ensuring that these projects are firmly anchored to ensure the long term and sustainable economic growth of Thurrock.”
Graham Farrant, Chief Executive, Thurrock Council, said: “The minister’s decision to amalgamate the Council and Corporation was a real vote of confidence in the improvements we have made. It is important we deliver one united organisation by 2012 and the Development Corporation moving to the Civic Offices is a significant milestone towards achieving that.”
Cllr John Kent, Leader of Thurrock Council, said: “The changes we will see in Thurrock over the coming years are something we have to get right. Regeneration is more than a word; it’s more than an idea; it has to become part of the fabric of this borough, something every single person buys into and believes. This is the next step on that journey, changing lives for the better.”
Thames Gateway Minister Bob Neill said: “The Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation’s move into Thurrock Borough Council is the first step toward putting local decision-making power back into democratically elected hands. Local regeneration will be strengthened, giving local people more influence to shape the place in which they live, and working directly alongside Council staff will help ensure the Corporation’s smooth transition into the Council next year.”
