TTGDC celebrates localism before work moves to the Council
Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation and Thurrock Council will be hosting the Thurrock Localism Ceremony on 8th March 2012 at 3:30pm.
The ceremony will announce the formal handover of the work of the Corporation to the Council under the Government’s Localism agenda, celebrate the success of the Corporation’s contribution to securing the social and economic growth and regeneration of the Borough and highlight the determination of the Council to finish the job.
Speeches from Bob Neill, MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Will McKee, Chairman of Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation, John Kent, Leader of the Council and Mike Butterworth, Chief Operating Officer of Capital Shopping Centres will be presented to key businesses, stakeholders, partners and the wider Thurrock community.
Over the last 12 months the Development Corporation, Thurrock Council and the Department of Communities and Local Government have been working closely together to ensure a smooth transition when the Corporation’s functions pass to the local authority in April 2012.
As of 1st April 2012 the Development Corporation’s assets, planning functions and key projects such as: Purfleet Centre Regeneration; Thurrock Learning Campus; and Hogg Lane South will transfer to the Council. Key personnel involved in delivery of these projects and in planning, will also transfer to the Council.
Will McKee, Chair of Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation, said: “Everyone at the Corporation is immensely proud of the organisation’s achievements, in particular its strategic policy framework and the transformational projects we have developed and implemented since becoming fully operational in October 2005.
The Localism Ceremony gives us a great opportunity to celebrate our success and for the Development Corporation and Thurrock Council to reassure the Thurrock Community that regeneration of the Borough will continue long after the Corporation’s demise”
John Kent, Leader of Thurrock Council, said: “The next decade will be a defining period in the future prosperity and growth of Thurrock, and for the Council. The legacy of the Development Corporation is to have laid the policy foundations for regeneration, created private investor confidence, pump primed growth and delivered the first phases of the major projects which will transform Thurrock at High House Production Park and Grays.
“There is a new confidence in the ability of the Council to deliver and a clear determination from within to succeed. The best skills of the Council and the Development Corporation will come together to transform the borough in a decade of delivery.”
Bob Neill, MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, added: “With the transfer of planning decisions back to the residents and democratically elected representatives in Thurrock, the Thames Gateway is a leading light in localism showcasing the innovation, growth and regeneration it can inspire.
“The hard work of the Corporation, the Council and community in Thurrock thus far has demonstrated the creativity, foresight and determination to make their local area a success and I look forward to seeing the Thames Gateway continuing to thrive.”
Someone needs to tell Mr McKee how disgusted most Thurrock residents feel about him and his croonies, selling us down the river by approving and incouraging the new mostly unwanted college in Grays, and the development of a huge locally unwanted housing estate.
Does he really think that he works for a democratic society?