Bury's strategic objectives

Introduction

Bury's strategic objectives have been developed based on a comprehensive baseline assessment of Bury's economy, analysis of key sub-regional and regional research (including the Manchester Independent Economic Review) and discussion with stakeholders from the public, private and community sectors. The strategic objectives offer a robust and realistic programme of work to realise an innovative and bold future. The evidence base used to develop these priorities can be read at www.bury.gov.uk.

The strategy addresses the core issues facing Bury over the next decade: the competitiveness of Bury in an increasingly globalised world; the resilience and sustainability of Bury's businesses, people and places given the inevitable ups and downs of the economic cycle; and, crucially, the careful balance between economic growth and social and environmental considerations.

The nine strategic objectives, grouped under three themes, are:

Harnessing the creative and entrepreneurial potential of Bury's people and communities

1. Promoting new business formation, survival and growth
2. Encouraging skills development to address Bury's and GM's
   economic needs
3. Strengthening Bury's cultural offer and growing the visitor economy
4. Attracting and retaining talent

Strengthening Bury's economic and environmental infrastructure

1. Building the digitally networked Bury
2. Developing the retail, leisure, and office sectors to unlock the
   economic potential of the borough's town and district centres and
   key employment sites
3. Creating a sustainable and low carbon Bury

Empowering Bury's social economy and neighbourhoods

1. Tackling worklessness, inequality and poverty
2. Improving neighbourhood level quality of life

These three interrelated themes capture the human development, social and place based dimensions critical to building a competitive, sustainable and connected economy. The objective we have set for ourselves is to not only to enhance Bury's capacity to adapt to economic, social and environmental change, but to proactively shape our future by creating new opportunities for growth and prosperity.

In this way, Bury will make an even greater contribution to the health and vitality of the City Region and help move forward the strategic vision of 'Prosperity for All' embedded in the Greater Manchester Strategy.

Each of these strategic objectives is outlined in more detail in the following pages.

Promoting new business information, survival and growth

Objective: Increased business start-ups within Bury leading to greater employment and new sustainable industries.

The long-term sustainability of Bury's economy will be highly dependent upon its ability to stimulate entrepreneurial activity. It must create an environment where people and firms drive business growth by spotting new opportunities and taking the necessary risks to achieve success. This becomes particularly important within an economic climate characterised by constrained large-scale public and private investment. While Bury has a business start  up rate which is above the GM average it is
still slightly below the average across the UK.

The challenge then is clear - bring this average to the UK level and beyond, through a series of carefully considered interventions. Improving Bury's business base requires a focus on both skills and business support in order to create a sustainable and forward-looking business community. Bury also needs to sustain and nurture its key sectors, with digital, health, textiles, business services and the visitor economy in particular representing opportunities for future growth.

Aims

• Support the key sectors of Bury's economy which provide the borough with a distinctive offer and comparative advantage.
• Encourage and support new business ideas, innovation, enterprise and research.
• Work with Bury's educational institutions to provide the skills required by Bury's businesses, particularly those in Bury's key sectors.
• Ensure that all businesses in Bury with the potential to achieve high growth are properly nurtured
• Ensure that business start ups in Bury realise their potential
• Provide information and support for young people and students to encourage business start-ups and self employment.
• Make use of the Internet to provide new support and services to Bury's business community.
• Make effective use of supply chains in order to develop new business opportunities in Bury

Measures of success

• The number of business start-ups in Bury will increase while the number of business 'deaths' will decrease
• Business survival rates will improve in Bury
• Bury will create more young entrepreneurs
• Bury will increase the proportion of businesses that are accessing knowledge and building and commercialising innovation.

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Increase the proportion of employers engaged in formal workforce development and leadership training
• Support businesses and highly talented individuals in the commercial exploitation of intellectual property and applications through high
  profile financial incentives and by providing opportunities for international recognition.
• Lower the costs of doing business in the city region by focusing on interventions that improve the efficiency quality and innovation of supply chains and apply sectoral approaches where there are demonstrable benefits
• Build broader leadership and local capacity for innovation throughout the city region by encouraging the genuine exchange and cross-pollination of ideas and actions across a diverse mix of public, private and third sector players.
• Increase the level of international business, imports and the rate of international business travel of the city region's firms
• Target firms in the city region with the highest potential to expand internationally.

Encouraging skills development to address Bury and Greater Manchester's economic needs

Objective: Bury and GM economy supported by access to skilled workforce, providing resilience to sector (digital, health, business services, manufacturing) economic trends now and in future.

A clear theme emerging from the Manchester Independent Economic Review is that skills are a key driver of productivity, economic participation and competitiveness. The capacity of Bury's firms to transform their work processes and create new products in the face of fierce competition depends on the size and quality of its workforce. With employment prospects for the least skilled being at best bleak, a strong skills base helps people to find employment, progress their careers and improve their future earning prospects. Bury has a high level of residents with the basic minimum skill level required for sustained employability - the equivalent of 5 or more GCSEs grade A^* to C- both above the City Region and national level. However, there are still 12,500 people in Bury who lack functional literacy skills and 53,000 who lack functional numeracy skills. With respect to high-level skills (degree level or equivalent) Bury still outperforms the City Region. However, Bury's level of highly skilled people is below the national average, which from a global perspective ranks only 11th amongst G20 countries. Bury's commuting patterns mean that in general the highest skilled commute out of the borough to work, whilst the lowest skilled remain in the borough in low value employment or all too often in unemployment.

It is important to remember that skills do not develop solely in the workplace, they are developed in our schools, sixth forms and colleges throughout statutory education and beyond. The Manchester Independent Economic Review highlighted the importance of focusing efforts on the very early years (0 to 5) experience of all young people to promote both social inclusion and economic growth. Bury's educational performance is a real strength - both in nurturing talented, aspiring young adults, and attracting talented people to live in the area. One of the Bury Community Strategy ambitions is to become a centre of excellence for education and training in the North West, and achieving this is essential for the development of a fully rounded and successful Bury.

Aims

• Ensure that the early years experience of all Bury's young people is improved so that Bury's children have the best start in life
• Embed effective partnerships across educational institutions, agencies and providers to link 14-19 education, economic development and adult skills.
• Encourage links between schools, further education, higher education and business
• Develop progression routes and pathways into and through higher level skills for learners suffering disadvantage, whether economic, social or geographic
• Encourage Bury's businesses to invest in the skills of their workforce, particularly those supporting Bury's most competitive key sectors
• Ensure Bury's young people and adults have access to high quality careers information, advice and guidance
• Increase the volume and quality of work experience in Bury
• Enhance access to provision of vocational qualifications, including by increasing the take up of the Skills Pledge and Apprenticeships
• Make effective use of informal learning to introduce the development of skills across the Borough
• Create a larger role for the public sector to mitigate the effects of the recession, including supportive public sector procurement

Measures of success

• NI117: 16 to 18 year olds not in education, training or employment will fall
• NI161: achievement of level 1 qualifications in literacy will increase
• NI162: achievement of Entry level 3 qualifications in numeracy will increase
• NI163: working age population qualification to at least level 2 will increase
• Skill levels of residents will increase
• Numbers of graduates in employment will increase and more graduates will be retained in the area
• The proportion of college students from deprived areas expecting to go to university will increase
• There will be an increase in the number of work experience placements in the knowledge economy
• Take up of vocational qualifications will increase
• Barriers to education for people in the most effected areas will reduce

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Radically improve the early years experience for hard to reach groups, particularly in the most deprived areas
• Improve the economic prospects of young people in our most deprived communities by improving Level 2 attainment rates and progression to higher education - either academic or vocational
• Increase the number of residents progressing into learning at 'Level 4' and above
• Increase the numbers studying Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and key future languages
• Increase the level of generic skills among young people and adults (such as effective communication, team-working and customer care)
• Increase the number of young people staying in learning and achieving Level 2/3 qualifications at 19 years old

Strengthening Bury's cultural offer and growing the visitor economy

Objective: Increased recognition and quality of Bury's local tourism and cultural products and better linkages between local attractions leading to more visitor and resident spend.

Tourism and culture are increasingly seen as important and inter-related components of economic development supporting directly and indirectly a wide array of service industries from restaurants to music venues. Covering a broad range of assets and attractions like the Fusiliers Museum, Bury Art Gallery and Museum, Bury Market, Burrs Country Park, the MET, the East Lancashire Railway and picturesque towns such as Ramsbottom, the Bury cultural and tourism sector contributes to a city-region leisure market, which has seen a 23% increase over the past decade. The sector is a significant employer and generator of wealth in its own right.

We see Bury as a high quality day visit destination, focusing on the natural environment, the arts, food, culture and heritage. Bury also has the opportunity to capitalise on the short breaks market, with its links with Lancashire to the north and Manchester city centre to the south. Bury Market, with over 12 million visitors annually, is the jewel in the crown. Realising this vision entails both promoting this offer to target markets and working in partnership with all sectors of this industry to improve its quality and appeal in a highly competitive national leisure market. It also requires the development of Bury's tourism infrastructure in order to enhance the quality of visitors experience. This is achieved by having suitable signage, transport, parking, interpretation, public space and amenities. Through well thought out tourist infrastructure it is possible to reinforce Bury's sense of place and make it a welcoming destination for people across Britain.

Bury's evening economies in its town and district centres is a central aspect of the leisure economy. Currently these are underdeveloped and there is a gap in the provision of a family leisure and quality restaurant offer which bridges the space between the daytime retail and cultural offer and the night-time economy.
There are already significant efforts being undertaken to improve Bury's evening economy in the form of the Rock development and the Love Prestwich Village strategy. It is important that Bury capitalises on these developments in order create a sustainable and vibrant evening economy.

Aims

• Co-ordinated marketing directed to existing and new potential visitors
• Promote strengthening of the accommodation sector
• Work with attractions to improve the visitor experience, using national quality assessments and best practice
• Ensure the continued success of all Bury's key visitor attractions, including Bury Market
• Integrate cultural products, activities and events into Bury's retail and leisure offer
• Develop an evening economy and culture in our town centres which provides a vibrant mix of activity to appeal to a range of age groups
• Improve Bury's tourism and cultural infrastructure
• Develop Ramsbottom as a key visitor destination in line with the recommendations outlined in the East Lancashire Railway Development Strategy

Measures of success

• The number out of district visitors to Bury will increase
• The number of hotel beds in Bury will increase.
• Bury's tourist sector will experience a growth in GVA
• There will be an increased number of events/festivals
• The average visitor spend will increase

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Deliver a stronger city region 'experience' and better quality of life, including:
• A spatial framework to allow for the collaborative development and improvement of our district centres with a better qualify of life as a
  clear focus.
• An across-the-board improvement in the development and management of the city region's public realm.
• The delivery of a groundbreaking cultural strategy and cultural investment and improvement programme
• Develop an integrated brand communications campaign for the city region:
• Conceive and launch an over-arching marketing strategy
• Sell the Manchester city region's story and our cultural offer more effectively

Attracting and retaining talent

Objective: Increasing the number of talented people wishing to live and work in Bury.

It has become almost a truism that people and talent lie at the heart of the economy. For cities and regions seeking to raise their game economically, it is not enough - though important it is - to simply increase the skills of its resident population. The attraction and retention of talent, particularly highly skilled knowledge workers, is also a priority in the process of transforming economic development, as recognised in the Greater Manchester Strategy.

What we know from a large body of national and international literature, including the Manchester Independent Economic Review, is that the decisions of creative workers to locate in one city versus another are driven by a complex set of variables, including quality of place (which includes public services, cultural offer, housing, parks and so on) economic prospects and social factors linked to the openness of neighbourhoods, people and networks to people from other parts of the UK and abroad. While Bury already has a relatively good place offer, there is still room for improvement.

In short, the task for Bury is to leverage and increase awareness of Bury's current strengths in terms of quality of place and stimulate development of new and unique assets to attract and retain talent wishing to live and work in the Manchester City Region.

Aims

• Work with MIDAS and Marketing Manchester to promote Bury's offer as a high-quality place to live and to locate a business
• Attract gifted graduates from GM and UK colleges and universities to live and work in Bury.
• Encourage young and mid-career professionals/entrepreneurs to engage in community and civic development
• Create innovative public / private sector networks to enhance Bury's social capital.
• Ensure the availability of a high quality housing offer

Measures of success

• Bury will attract more young skilled people to live and work in the area
• There will be an increased take-up of social activities by young people
• Increased numbers of knowledge workers will live in Bury

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Increase the proportion of graduates from Manchester city region's higher education institutions who stay in city region for two years after graduation.
• Increase the number of students from the Times Top 30 universities and the Shanghai Jiao Tong top 20 universities who choose the Manchester city region as their career destination.
• Increase the number of knowledge workers and decision-makers working in the city region, in particular those in the early (25-34) and mid (35-44) stages of their careers.
• Strengthen the involvement of universities in the city's broader social capital.
• Increase the number of innovative entrepreneurs living and working in the city region.
• Increase the number of high net worth individuals living in the city region.

Building the digitally networked Bury

Objective: Bury to be a leader in the UK in creatively deploying ICT technologies across all segments of the community.

In the modern economy it is not just physical connectivity that matters - fast, reliable and efficient broadband access is also vital. Quality broadband is now seen as the 'the fourth utility', as important to functioning society as the provision of water, gas and electricity.

The findings of recent in-depth reports from BERR and the LSE^* have concluded that 'Next Generation' high-speed bandwidth has become critical infrastructure. Moreover, increased digital connectivity by businesses, households and public institutions is highly correlated with increased productivity and economic growth.

The next five to ten years will witness significant upgrading and expansion of the city-region's digital and ICT infrastructure through major public and private sector investments. The vision for this transformation is established in the GM Strategy and will situate the Manchester City Region as a major national and global Internet hub.

For Bury the potential benefits of this transformation are enormous. There is no questioning the importance of deploying and increasing uptake of next-generation digital connectivity to the competitiveness of Bury's economy. From health services to our creative industries, fast and reliable broadband services will be critical to long-term growth and attracting inward investment.

Aims

• Ensure that Bury's key development sites are supplied with fibre to the premises next generation broadband
• Provide more households and businesses with next generation broadband to increase access to businesses and services and reduce the need to travel
• Improve the provision of information and data on Bury's website
• Encourage development of e-learning partnerships and initiatives in the Borough.
• Provide informal education and information about social media to businesses, educators, artists and the third-sector in Bury and nearby areas.
• Test new initiatives to use high bandwidth broadband to enable the delivery of new public sector business models

Measures of success

• Next generation broadband will be supplied and taken up by Bury's businesses and residents
• The number of households with the internet in Bury will increase
• Bury will have an increasing number of e-partnerships
• The number of businesses online and the number of businesses with websites will increase

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports the Greater Manchester Strategy priority to develop a clear and funded programme for the Manchester city region to pioneer provision of, and applications for, the next level of Next Generation Broadband (NGB) - aimed at delivering a rapid and wide take up of NGB and incentivising early adopter community to innovate, for example remote service delivery, including of medical, legal and public services.

Developing the retail, leisure and office sectors to unlock the economic potential of the borough's town and district centres and key employment sites

Objective: Maximising the potential of Bury's major development sites, town centres, retail, leisure and residential sites.

With major developments now underway in different locales within the borough, Bury is in a good position to build upon and expand its economic base. At the core of this redevelopment is Bury town centre. The Bury But Better report outlines a vision for a more prosperous and successful Bury town centre. It lays out a strategy for the centre to build on its success in providing a good mixed service and retail offer, which, together with its unique market, both meets the needs of its local catchment and attracts visitors from the wider region. It also sets out the need to provide a diverse offer of business, retail, leisure and residential areas in order to build a fully rounded town centre. The Drivers Jonas 2009 Greater Manchester Town Centres report identified Bury town centre as a location for accelerated development in Greater Manchester, with its key challenge going forward being the need to attract more private occupiers into its office space.

Bury market is a national attraction that draws visitors from across the north of England and indeed nationally and internationally. The success of the market has been complemented by a new office sector with over 100,000 sq ft of office space let to public and private sector tenants. Going forward, the focus for the town centre should be to consolidate and ensure the success of existing developments and identify high quality and highly accessible locations for new tenants which will take the office market forward in strategic locations within the town centre.

Developments now under construction at Townside and Chamberhall Business Park will also contribute to Bury's attractiveness as a location for business investment. The Rock development will also provide a significant boost to Bury's offer, housing a variety of new retail and leisure facilities that will appeal to a wide array of groups. These regeneration projects were supported by the Bury Town Centre Partnership, which ensures that the town centre integrates effectively as Bury expands.

However, other smaller town centres and retail areas also form part of and contribute to Bury's overall vitality and diversity. The other towns in Bury have also seen considerable regeneration, which are outlined in the Re-inventing Radcliffe, SUN Quarter Brief and Love Prestwich Village Strategy. Ultimately, the success of these large and small-scale sites will be dependent on their long-term competitiveness and attractiveness to investors, employers, residents and visitors.

Aims

• Developing additional business plans for the borough's Town and District Centres and Employment Sites, building on the Local Development Framework and the Local Community Plans.
• Engage, strengthen and promote additional Town and District Centre Partnerships, and support existing Business Group Partnerships, in all centres in the borough
• Investigate voluntary business improvement districts throughout the borough
• Build on existing investor relationships and attract new investment
  Identify sites for Grade A office space in strategic locations around Bury town centre, building on the work of Bury But Better 2 and the Local Development Framework.

Measures of success

• The amount of investment in Bury will increase
• Bury's levels of GVA will increase faster than currently forecast
• Footfall in Bury Town Centre, Rental Values in Bury Town Centre and Rental yield in Bury Town Centre will all increase
• The retail sector in Bury will see a significant boost in GVA
• There will be an increased take-up of office space in Bury and more office space will be provided

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Increase the level of foreign direct investment (FDI), from all possible destinations, into the city region.
• Expand our economic base by attracting public and private investment and facilities in area where GM's international strengths are recognised such as in research and development, through our universities, hospital corridor and at Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus.
• Build the City Region's Sense of Place.

Creating a sustainable and low carbon Bury

Objective: Reducing Bury's carbon footprint, improving local environmental performance and exploiting economic opportunities afforded through the low-carbon agenda.

Our response and adaptation to climate change ultimately lies at the core of building a sustainable and competitive future for Bury. Just as Bury needs to move quickly to reap the rewards of a digital future, it must also embrace the principles of a low-carbon economy.

In the present context, communities across the UK and the globe are placing a great emphasis on sustainable development and moving towards a low-carbon economy. There is a growing realisation that to have any success in the competition for investment and talent cities must be seen as prizing sustainability. Moreover, there is a risk that Bury could be left at a competitive disadvantage if it fails to begin moving towards a low carbon economy soon. Conversely there is an opportunity for Bury to get an early lead in sustainable development and carve out a niche as a high performing low carbon economy.

In regulatory terms we also have little choice. Government targets suggest the city region will need to reduce its carbon emissions by almost 40% within the next ten years. It goes without saying that Bury will need to make its contribution to this target. Bury's level of CO2 emissions though relatively low in regional and national terms is one of the highest per capita in Greater Manchester. A key cause of this is the high levels of car use by those commuting out of Bury. A dual response to this is needed: promoting and encouraging higher levels of remote home working to reduce the need to travel, alongside the promotion and development of Bury's public transport infrastructure to reduce the environmental impact of commuting.

Of course, the low-carbon challenge is pan-city region in nature, a fact reflected in the Greater Manchester Strategy and the Statutory City Region negotiations now under way with central government. Bury should reach out to the rest of the city-region through AGMA and its Commissions to share best-practice, establish measures, identify potential low-carbon initiative areas, promote green procurement practices and take advantage of economies of scale. Bury Council is already working with URBED and the Carbon Trust in order to develop low carbon energy infrastructure feasibility studies for Bury, Radcliffe and Prestwich and will continue to support green developments. The UK legislation and policy framework for spatial planning, including PPS4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth, presents Bury and AGMA with the opportunity to shape and align planning policy to direct development to deliver carbon efficiencies through improvements to function, infrastructure, design location and density of major developments.

Aims

• Identify the opportunities and threats to Bury's economy from the shift to a low carbon economy and take appropriate action
• Ensure access to next generation broadband to reduce the need to travel
• Encourage more sustainable travel within Bury and between Bury and other areas by promoting the use of Metrolink and developing the East Lancs Railway as a commuter route
• Encourage low and zero carbon developments and development zones
• Support and promote remote working and local employment opportunities for a positive environmental impact and better work/life balance
• Pursue a collective approach to the low carbon agenda by working with the rest of the sub-region to take advantage of economies of scale

Measures of success

• NI186: per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the LA area will reduce
• Amounts of C02 produced per business in Bury will reduce
• Take-up of renewable energy in Bury will increase
• Levels of remote working will have increased

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• To prioritise cost-effective major transport interventions that will create maximum economic benefit to the city region, subject to positive social and environmental outcomes overall
• To improve access from residential areas, particularly housing growth points, to key education and employment areas, particularly the Regional Centre and town centres, Trafford Park and other strategic employment sites.
• Establish Manchester city region as an internationally recognised research and consultancy centre in low carbon technologies and services and position firms as pioneers of low carbon business diversification.
• Apply cross cutting sustainability principles to procurement, transport, spatial planning and investment activities, and prioritise the retrofit of existing domestic and commercial stock to underpin the transition to a low carbon economy, which is resilient to a changing climate.
• Enhance the role of transport infrastructure in enabling sustainable lifestyles, and develop an integrated approach to transport network and demand management across all modes that optimises use of the network, provides users with a full range of affordable low carbon transport options, and reduces their need to travel.
• Develop pioneering approaches to solving key low carbon economy challenges via establishing low carbon economic areas.

Tackling worklessness, inequality and poverty

Objective: Reduced worklessness, inequality and increase labour market participation across all segments of Bury's population.

Tough economic and fiscal conditions are producing difficult choices for policy-makers at all levels of government. Nonetheless, we must not lose sight of the human impact economic dislocation is having and the enormous loss in skills and talent this represents for Bury.

Tackling worklessness and unemployment should be part of a broader agenda aimed at achieving a fairer society. Crucially, it must help reduce inequality and the barriers which prevent our most vulnerable residents from achieving their full potential. Sustainable economic growth is impossible without addressing the gap between our most affluent and poorest residents. Whilst Bury experiences less deprivation overall than other parts of the city-region and the UK, there are significant numbers of people who experience the inter-related problems of unemployment, low incomes, poor skills, inadequate housing, ill health and family breakdown. All this being further exacerbated by the effects of the recession and resultant job losses. Particular emphasis must be given to the vital issue of good physical and mental health - both of those in the labour market and those excluded from it. People with good physical and mental health have an increased chance of being in employment and, on average, higher rates of productivity.

In the current climate consideration must also be given to the large numbers of vulnerable people unable to enter the labour market. This exclusion creates a cycle of poverty and is linked to inequality - of opportunity, health, status, education, and life chances.

Aims

• Coordination of multi-agency activity to tackle the barriers to employment faced by many of Bury's out of work residents
• Ensuring that all Bury residents have the skills they need to access work
• Promotion of better health, work and well-being practices for all people living and working in Bury
• Promotion of volunteering activity and pre-employment activities to maintain skills and provide a pathway to return to paid work
• Work with employers to increase the diversity of their workforces
• Review Bury MBC's and other public sector organisations' current arrangement for fostering local economic benefit
• Increase take-up of Local Employment Partnerships

Measures of success

• NI006: Participation in regular volunteering will increase
• NI116: the proportion of children in poverty will fall
• NI152: the number of working age people on out of work benefits will fall
• Unemployment and inactivity in Bury will decrease
• The number of benefit claimants in Bury will decrease
• Inequality in Bury will reduce

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Improve the economic prospects of adults in our most deprived communities by substantially improving adult skills levels, particularly improving the volume of people with economically valuable skills
• Improve the economic prospects of adults in our most deprived communities by reducing the number of people with limiting illnesses and out of work due to ill health
• Increasing access to employment opportunities in deprived areas
• Tackling child poverty, in particular focusing on the employment and income levels of parents, to improve the life chances of the next generation of Manchester city region residents

Improving neighbourhood level quality of life

Objective: Improved health, social and environmental outcomes and increased resident participation in volunteering and economic, political and social affairs of Bury.

Extensive research conclusively demonstrates that neighbourhoods - the areas where people live and coalesce as a community - have a huge influence on quality of life. Indeed, there exists a strong link between low quality environments and poor health and anti-social problems. These positive social outcomes also interact with the economic benefits of creating vibrant and attractive neighbourhoods, particularly with regards to talent attraction  and investment.

For its residents, Bury's neighbourhoods must be places where they have the confidence and sense of empowerment to better the quality of life in their communities, have easy access to responsive and integrated public services, and have good quality homes and live in safe, attractive communities.

We can't allow our community infrastructure (such as village greens, community centres, streetscapes and so on), to deteriorate leaving what are often our most excluded of residents without the facilities they need to socialise and interact with their friends and neighbours. Experience from the UK and internationally also shows how cultural activities have the capacity to engender pride and self-confidence, create a sense of mutual respect, overcome social divisions and foster networks of social connection. It is also important to the economic attractiveness of the borough that its high quality environments are protected and developed where possible. The creation of more green infrastructure will help to mitigate the effects of climate change, while helping to avoid carbon emissions produced by having to drive to recreation areas. These measures will also help to deliver on more established health, recreation and quality of life agendas.

The third sector is critically important in improving the quality of life in Bury's communities. There are over 600 third sector organisations in Bury which cater for a wide range of needs and communities including advice and counselling, activities and services for children, youth and old people, sports, arts, training, employment and housing. As a sector it is well placed to assess community need and to respond quickly which makes well placed to provide help and support to get people through the current recession and prepare them for future opportunities.

Aims

• Engage with communities through existing Local Area Partnerships and engage them in local decision making
• Ensure local area plans are reviewed, updated, implemented and embedded in the work flowing from the Economic Strategy
• Work with Bury's third sector to identify and address community needs
• Promote civic pride and local community participation
• Develop Bury's green infrastructure to support sustainable economic growth and improve health and wellbeing.

Measures of success

• NI001: the percent of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area will increase
• NI007: there will be an environment for a thriving third sector
• The number of people satisfied with their local area will increase
• The number of people above working age in employment will increase.

Greater Manchester Strategy/Partnership links

This objective supports a number of Greater Manchester Strategy priorities:

• Improving the quality of life in our deprived areas by reducing crime rates and levels of antisocial behaviour
• Improving the livability of life in our deprived areas by improving the physical environment.
• Improve the performance of public services in our most deprived areas by agreeing a clear set of spatial and community priorities and developing more integrated multi-agency delivery structures.

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