PluggedIN – the storm facing public sector land
Author: Alex Thomson, in the MJ |
Having been a bit of a policy backwater for many years, public sector land now finds itself facing something of a storm.
The two main policy drivers are well known: the economic and political pressure for new housing which continues to rise – while government capital budgets are slashed – and the perilous state of both central and local government finances which means that any opportunity to bring money in must be carefully examined.
The changing nature of public services – channel shift, co-location, shared budgets etc – is another less prominent but important driver.
The result is that an age-old tension – the need to deliver short term savings now, balanced against preparing for the future and keeping services going in the medium and long term – has become an acute issue, with implications throughout local government, but particularly with reference to public land. Many local authorities are auditing their estates and seeking to identify under-utilised land that could be redeveloped.
But even simple disposal is frequently not as simple as hoped, with technical, legal and logistical challenges to overcome.
Not to mention the leadership required to bring together often disparate partners and make a more sophisticated joint venture type development successfully happen.
But perhaps the more crucial point to bear in mind is that public land is exactly what it sounds like ? land owned by the public.
As such it is more than just a simple fixed asset and has potential value to the community beyond the lifetime of any individual. It is therefore essential that a balance is struck to ensure that the redevelopment of public land not only meets immediate local government needs, but also supports the long-term interests of the local communities involved.
With housing, job creation and local public services all intrinsically linked, but historically complicated to bring together, there is space for new policy debate and thought leadership in this area, which is why Localis, in partnership with Cathedral Group, will be investigating and debating these questions over the coming months.
Indeed I was fortunate enough to kick-start the debate in sunny Cannes last week, with the launch of an agenda-setting pamphlet and a roundtable discussion.
We are looking to talk to a wide range of local authorities, and other local public services, about the development challenges and opportunities they face ? please email chief@localis.org.uk if you would like to be involved in the project.
Alex Thomson is Chief Executive of Localis, the localism and local government think tank