The Golden Valley development K ey to Cheltenham's Covid-19 recovery
The question that everyone seems to be asking is how will we recover from Covid-19? In Cheltenham we think we have some of the answers. On 11 May we launched our search for a partner for our Golden Valley Development – a unique and pioneering project that aims to create a new sustainable community next to GCHQ in Cheltenham, building on our reputation as the Cyber Capital of the UK. This will create new businesses, jobs and over 3000 new homes.
The council has already invested in a significant piece of land to kick-start this project and we're committing up to innovative and high quality housing.
£180m to drive forward the delivery of
This underlines that, despite Covid-19, our
confidence and ambition for our future remains as strong as ever. This has been backed by major investment from the UK government, seeing around
£250m in Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) and Growth Deal 3 funds for transport infrastructure improvements and £1.9billion into cyber security.
Why will delivering Golden Valley to make Cheltenham the Cyber Capital of the UK help us to re-build stronger? From a business perspective, the demand for cyber security has never been higher. How many of us have downloaded a video conferencing platform to conduct meetings or join a family quiz in the last few weeks? Almost all of us I expect, but the phenomenal growth and reliance on our IT infrastructure only brings more plentiful opportunities for those who wish to hack systems for their own benefit. Easyjet was merely the last casualty, revealing that millions of accounts had been breached.
Before Covid-19, the value of cyber businesses was over
£8billion to the UK
economy. It had doubled in value in only two years. I wouldn’t be surprised if demand for innovation and capacity in the sector hasn’t just doubled again in the last few weeks alone. With Cheltenham being the UK’s leading cyber centre outside of London, the opportunity for growth, jobs and being part of the cyber frontier are limitless. And with Golden Valley, we have the platform and proximity to leaders in the industry to meet the growth of the most creative and demanding cyber businesses and entrepreneurs.
This is not just about Cheltenham and Gloucestershire.
This significant
recovery project will also take a leading role in the UK’s mission to become the safest place to do online business in the world; for the UK to be a global leader in cyber security. As leading industry expert Jake Moore recently said in CS Magazine:
"Cheltenham is a natural choice for a cybersecurity campus and I’m sure this will attract a lot of attention from the UK and around the world."
But our recovery from Covid-19 needs to be so much more than about creating jobs and must also deliver inclusivity, sustainability and stronger communities.
That’s why we want to work with both the public and private sectors to deliver a community of the highest standards. One that is low carbon and beneficial for our environment, encourages walking and cycling, has lasting impact on wellbeing and enhances the culture and vibrancy of our town.
But more than that we recognise that a true measure of success of Golden Valley will be whether the benefits of growth will be extended to everyone. To achieve inclusivity we will need our schools and educational institutions to support us in developing the skills of our young people so they are ready to grasp the jobs that are created. Likewise our businesses need to be creative and flexible in the training and apprenticeships they offer to present opportunity to all. And we must offer affordable and attractive social housing that makes a genuine contribution to meeting the challenge of our national housing shortage.
Covid-19 has prompted discussions about a new and different world that meets us in the years to come, not least around how our adaptation to the virtual world will forever change how and where we choose to work and live.
The case for making Cheltenham the Cyber Capital of the UK was compelling before Covid-19 but it has now taken on a greater importance. One that may well provide some of the answers on how we deliver a recovery that makes us stronger than before.
The only remaining question is who will join us to invest in this pioneering and unique project?
Gareth Edmundson Chief Executive
goldenvalleyuk.com