The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) announced plans for an innovative long-term partnership deal with Norwich City Council, as one of the outcomes from its new business process, the Single Conversation.
Speaking at the CIH Conference in Harrogate, Terry Fuller, HCA Regional Director for the East of England, outlined details of the strategic partnering agreement, that will result in innovative approaches to joint working, creating a supply of new homes and jobs over a 12-year period.
Under the deal, the HCA will invest £7.5 million into the City. Norwich City Council will invest a number of sites amounting to circa 1,300 homes around the City that will be jointly developed.
The surplus that comes out of these sites could reach between £60-80 million over the next 12 years, and will be reinvested jointly into more regeneration schemes in the City. The initiative has been progressed with advice from consultant Richard Jones at EC Harris.
The strategic objectives for the Partnership have been agreed as follows:
The Partnership will ensure that local communities are engaged in plans for new developments and that these meet the HCA's current and future standards of design - both contributing to the achievement of shared objectives relating to homes, jobs and communities.
It is hoped that there will be job opportunities created straight away through the construction and supply chain, and this partnership will be linked to local job creation and employment opportunities, as well as supporting the local construction industry.
It is anticipated that the partners in Norwich will sign the contract on specific sites and schemes by early autumn 2009.
