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Newsletter October 2021Welcome to the latest newsletter from the Borderlands Partnership. Since full Deal signing in March this year, our key governance bodies, the Partnership Board and the Economic Forum have been formally established. We have hosted a visit from the UK Government Minister for growth deals in Scotland, including a tour of the Carlisle Station redevelopment project and good progress has been made across our live projects and projects in development.

Project progress updatesThe Ad Gefrin Visitor Experience and Distillery continues to take shape in Wooler, Northumberland. Following the approval at the start of the year the site has been prepared and building work is bringing the project to life. Despite the challenges of Covid-19 the framework of the building is in place giving a first impression of the new development. Alongside the building works a successful design challenge took place on the 6th October, with a great response from local creative businesses to develop new products for the facility. The project is due to complete the build works and open to visitors during 2022.

Success for Digital Borderlands Voucher SchemeLaunched last June, the Digital Borderlands Voucher Scheme was designed to ensure that more communities in rural areas of Cumbria and Northumberland are able to access much faster and more reliable internet connections.

Vouchers were available to residents and businesses to subsidise the costs of connecting gigabit broadband to areas suffering with slow speeds. As part of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, up to £4m of additional Government funding was made available to ‘top up’ these vouchers so more money is available to improve digital connectivity and boost the regional economy.

The success of the scheme saw all funds being allocated to a mix of community and business led applications across Cumbria and Northumberland. Over 650 properties have already been connected to gigabit capable broadband, including areas like Borrowdale, Cartmell Fell and Chathill. A further 1,439 properties are expected to be connected during the next 12months across Cumbria and Northumberland.

Ad Gefrin Visitor Experience and Distillery site

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Borders Railway Prospectus publishedThe Borderlands Partnership published its Borders Railway Prospectus on 5th October, which will inform ongoing discussions with the UK and Scottish governments for the extension of the Borders Railway to Carlisle. £10million is allocated in the Deal to support this work, which will be progressed initially through Transport Scotland’s on-going second Strategic Transport Projects Review in Scotland while the UK Government’s Department for Transport complete complementary work with a wider UK perspective.

The Borders Railway offers the opportunity to build on the success of the initial work, which re-established a rail line between Edinburgh and Tweedbank. The usage of the initial phase of the Borders Railway line extension has exceeded the forecast of the business case by up to a factor of ten. In practice, the benefits have been much higher, and particularly at the local level where evidence points towards substantial impacts on the delivery of economic and social benefits. The Borderlands Partnership was successful in making a strong case work to consider the extension of the Borders Railway across the border to Carlisle in the Deal. The Prospectus provides information that builds a strong foundation for taking forward the study and shows its importance for the overall Deal.

The Prospectus provides more context as to why an extension to this route could be transformational to the Borderlands region. However, the document itself does not provide a view on where stations should be located on the route or comment on the viability of potential freight traffic opportunities; these will be matter for the feasibility study. Read the full document or a shorter summary version on our website www.borderlandsgrowth.com

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Borderlands Economic Forum up and runningThe Borderlands Economic Forum is now in place, to support delivery of the Deal. Working in support of the Borderlands Partnership Board, the ten private business representatives on the Economic Forum bring their commercial experience to complement public sector stakeholders from the South of Scotland Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, and the Cumbria and North East Local Enterprise Partnerships.

The Forum has met twice now and is already playing a key part in connecting the delivery of the Deal with the business community across the region. Jack Stopforth, of Taylor Stopforth (Consulting) Limited was elected as the first Chair and has said,

“I am delighted to be elected as the first Chair of the Borderlands Economic Forum. The Deal will enable the Borderlands area to create sustainable jobs, re-invigorate the economy, and build strategically for long term growth and prosperity. We are excited to be involved in its delivery and want to engage the wider business community to ensure that we see the maximum return of investment, jobs and training opportunities for local people and inward investors.”

Minutes of the Forum meetings, and full details of the membership, are available at https://www.borderlandsgrowth.com/How-we-work

Jack Stopforth MBE MA

Taylor Stopforth (Consulting) Limited (Chair Borderlands Economic Forum)

John BerryDirector,

TimelessTime Ltd

Chris BrodieLead Head of Skills

Planning and Sector Development at

Skills Development Scotland

Bill ColquhounSenior Partner and founder of Lomond

CEO Services

John FordyceManaging Director,

The Borders Distillery

Lord InglewoodChair Cumbria

Local Enterprise Partnership

Paul KasieraFront Line Leader, Pirelli Ltd Carlisle

Hamish MacleodPublic Affairs

Advisor, BSW Timber Group

Michael OrdeDirector, Savills

John PatersonDirector,

Egger Forestry

Emma PorterBoard Member Cumbria

Local Enterprise Partnership, Managing Director – Construction,

Story Contracting

Fiona StoddartCreator Solway

connections Guided Tours

Helen GolightlyChief Executive,

North East Local Enterprise

Partnership

Professor Russel Griggs OBE

Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise

(SOSE)

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Ministerial visit hosted in Carlisle, to discuss Deal progress and looking aheadThe UK Government Minister for growth deals in Scotland, Iain Stewart MP, visited Carlisle in July, to meet representatives of the Borderlands Partnership and find out about how the Deal is progressing since the signing. The Minister was shown around Carlisle Station by Cllr Stewart Young, Leader of Cumbria County Council and Cllr John Mallinson, Leader of Carlisle City Council before joining other representatives of the Partnership including Cllr Mark Rowley, of Scottish Borders Council for a round table discussion.

Minister Stewart heard about the ambitious plans for Carlisle Station, which will see £20 million funding allocated for redevelopment of the station and the surrounding area, to act as a gateway to the region and a key transport hub with connections across the Borderlands, including preparations for the arrival of HS2 in the future.

Physical and digital connectivity are central to the Deal, providing more opportunities for employment, to start a business or visit the area with the investment at Carlisle Station and feasibility work for the Borders Rail extension to Carlisle complementing the investment which will improve digital access across the Borderlands.

Carlisle Station Gateway - public consultation Local residents, businesses, commuters and visitors are being given the opportunity to have their say on ambitious new plans for Carlisle Railway Station and its surrounding area. The public consultation takes place between Wednesday 22 September and Wednesday 3 November 2021. People are being asked to give their feedback and views on the initial designs of the improvements before formal approvals and consents are submitted. The first phase of work is expected to start in Summer 2022.

The investment will not only transform the station, but it also will strengthen the strategic connectivity to Carlisle and to the wider Borderlands region, as part of the Deal’s “enabling infrastructure” theme. Story Contracting and Eric Wright Civil Engineering were appointed in June 2021 for the design and build elements of redevelopment works. Find out more at www.cumbria.gov.uk/CSGC.

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The Borderlands Partnership is shortlisted for a Local Government Chronicle (LGC) award

We were very pleased to submit a bid for the Future Places award, in the LGC Awards for Excellence 2021. Cumbria County Council submitted the entry on behalf of the Borderlands Partnership. The submission highlighted the partnership working leading up the Deal signing and the ways in which the programmes and projects of the Deal will contribute to improving our places for people, business and visitors, across all four themes of the Deal.

The Partnership presented their submission to the judging panel in a virtual event on the 24th September, with the awards being announced at an event on 4th November in London.

The Local Government Chronicle runs the national awards for local government, the LGC Awards for Excellence. The Future Places award is for councils or a partnership of councils, that have worked creatively with technology to make the area they serve more prosperous, ‘liveable’ and resilient in the face of likely social, economic, demographic, political or environmental trends. It recognises councils which are using emerging technologies to work with partners and the public to make their areas more sustainable and/or healthier, less congested, more connected and prosperous.

Contact usFor more information about the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal and the Borderlands Partnership, visit www.borderlandsgrowth.com or email info@borderlandsgrowth.com.

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Images courtesy of Stuart Walker and Andrew Paterson