The Place West London Conference is the heart of the event – a forum for discussion and debate about the issues central to maintaining West London as a successful place.
The structured 2011 programme was a mix of plenaries from political, business, economic and community experts – sessions which laid out the visions, issue the challenges, and set out the opportunities.
Plenary Session One
9.30 Chair’s welcome – Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor of London
Outlining the ‘letter to Government’ concept. We intend to produce, as a result of this conference and the discussions at it, a letter to our government setting out the west London issues that we would like assistance and agreement on.
9.40 Setting the scene – Sir Peter Rogers, Mayoral Adviser for Regeneration, Growth and Enterprise
What is West London? What sort of a Place is it, and how can it be built upon and further enhanced? What does the new West London regeneration landscape look like, and what are the opportunities and challenges therein? What places and town centres provide opportunity for economic improvement, and what kind of interventions might be successful?
10.00 Keynote: Rise to the challenge – Mayoral Address – Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
10.20 Employers’ panel – A panel of employers and those close to them discuss the key issues and opportunities for economic growth in West London, and the actions they see as necessary to ensure continuing growth. In the absence of a West London LEP, what vision and leadership can the private sector provide?
Clare Harbord (Corporate Affairs Director, BAA), Steven Booth (Managing Partner, IBB), Phil Redding (London Directo, SEGRO). Chaired by Frank Wingate, CEO, West London Business.
10.45 Coffee and Networking Exhibition
Parallel Streams – Session One
Places Economy Round Tables
11.15 Hounslow Town Centre – Waking the sleeping giant.
With over 110,000sq ft of retail already, and opportunity sites that could double that, Hounslow is a major metropolitan centre. But how can the opportunities there be realised?
Ruth Cadbury (Deputy Leader, LB Hounslow), Mehron Kirk (BDP)
London’s Bread Basket
The food industry is strong in West London – 80% of London jobs in the sector are in the west. What are the challenges facing employers in this key sector, and how can the regeneration community help solve them? What role can innovation play in ensuring future growth?
Andrew Ward (Brunel University), Dr Harris Makatsoris, (Senior Lecturer, Brunel University)
1. What steps can be taken to reduce property costs?
Operational property costs are often the second highest overhead for most occupiers. Juliusz will lead a discussion on what steps commercial organisations can take to make cost savings in this difficult economic climate, which (in some ways) gives the commercial occupier a strong negotiating position with landlords.
Juliusz Wodzianski, Partner, IBB Solicitors; Panikkos Euripides, Colliers International
2. Barriers to Growth in west London
This Round Table will examine potential barriers to future economic growth, ranging from access to the right skilled labour force, development and planning challenges and essential investment in infrastructure and transport networks.
Leaders from the private and public sectors are invited to discuss the measures needed to ensure west London can retain its position in future.
Hosted by SEGRO
See full details
12.00 Earls Court Update
Now the subject of a major outline planning application, and of some public discussion, the plans to regenerate Earls Court are among the most significant in London. Hear an update on the plans, and the future for the grandest of grand schemes.
Richard Powell (Capital & Counties), Melbourne Barrett (LB Hammersmith & Fulham) Crossrail – don’t take your eye off the ball.
With the station design contracts starting to be let, this is the time for thinking about how Crossrail can connect best to its immediate surroundings. This is not a time to sit back – if we are to generate the economic benefit we could in Hayes, Southall, Acton and elsewhere, we need to focus right now on how we go about it.
Chris Paddock, Associate Director, Regeneris; Tom Holbrook, 5th studio, Sam Richards, Head of Urban Integration, Crossrail
12.45 Lunch and Networking Exhibition
Parallel Streams Session Two
Places Economy Round Tables
2.00 North Acton/Park Royal
Park Royal’s ‘southern gateway’ is the subject of a major new OAPF providing opportunity for redevelopment around an emerging community of residents and employers. Meanwhile, the Park Royal BID, and the new ability to retain and use business rate revenue provides an opportunity to reassess the accessibility and desirability of Europe’s largest business park and make it define 21st century employment zone standards, retaining key employers, and attracting new ones.
Brian Hinchley (Park Royal Partnership), Pat Hayes (LB Ealing), Mike Cummings (Park Royal Director, SEGRO)
It ain’t just about shops
Thriving town centres are more than places to buy things. A true community hub involves employment, recreation and civic use. We are faced with a genuine challenge in many major centres, let alone the secondary ones. What form of 21st century town and local centre could emerge to serve the needs of a modern community?
Stephen Kelly (LB Harrow), Mark Faithful (Retail Property Analyst), Mark Brearley, (Head of Design for London, DfL), Duncan Bower (Westfield)
Managing an ageing workforce following the abolition of the default retirement age
The government has recently abolished the default retirement age due to a number of legal, social and economic drivers. Justin will outline those drivers and lead a discussion on what it means for businesses of all sizes. What should employers be doing to effectively manage an ageing workforce? How can employers raise the issue of retirement planning with employees without falling foul of the law? What challenges does this bring, and how can businesses benefit from some of the opportunities that could arise? Under what circumstances might it still be possible to justify a retirement age?
Justin Govier, Partner, IBB Solicitors
2.45 Sustainable Living in Outer London
Building sustainable communities is at the heart of most economic development strategies. Here in London, where a housing crisis threatens to define the next decade, what can realistically be done? Opportunities exist to create whole new communities – RAF Uxbridge and Southall Gasworks are just two schemes on the starting blocks in the new MetroLand – what do they need to do to succeed?
David Lunts (Greater London Authority), Colin Darby (Vinci St Modwen), Julian Tollast (Quintain Estates & Development)
Chair: Sunil Shah, DPP
The Public sector stimulus
Even now, the cash-constrained public sector can stimulate local economies and aid regeneration through consideration of how assets are used, or rationalised. What innovation is there in this area and what can we do in west London to make best use of public assets in the regeneration of our communities? How should the private sector be involved, and what needs to be done to make it happen?
Cllr Nick Cuff (Chair of Planning, London Borough of Wandsworth), Andy Donald (Head of regeneration, Brent Council)
1. Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders
Facilitated by: Professor Amir Sharif (Professor of Operations Management and Director of MBA Programmes, Brunel University) and Professor Ashley Braganza (Deputy Head of Brunel Business School)
2. Delivering development: funding infrastructure
Understanding how Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedules may be developed – and their impact on infrastructure delivery and viability. We will explore the relationship between CIL and Section 106, as well as Green Infrastructure Fund, Tax Increment Finance and Enterprise Zones. What can be funded by CIL, and which mechanisms will become more relevant in future?
Hosted by Scott Witchalls, Peter Brett Associates and Cristina Howick, Roger Tym & Partners.
Securing Vacant Properties
Ad Hoc provide an alternative, cost effective, socially responsible way of securing long term void properties. Offices, care homes, houses, flats and commercial buildings can all be secured by Ad Hoc for up to 80% reduced rates compared to traditional security methods such as boarding up or 24 hour security guards. Join us to discuss what savings you could make.
Hosted by Doug Edwards, of Ad Hoc:
3.30 Coffee and Networking Exhibition
Plenary Session Two
4.00 Chair’s Introduction
4.10 Localism – working with the community
In the new Big West London Society, community engagement is seriously important. What’s the cutting edge, and what are the trends? People can be motivated easily by threat to their norms or environment, but how can we get them to engage in the positives? What can we learn from our recent history? What can be done to draw together the disparate strands of opinion around “unifying goods”? What role could mediation play, and what can be done to avoid “disengagement through impotence”, when people lose faith that their opinions will be listened to?
4.40 Afternoon keynote: Reimagining West London – Sir Terry Farrell, Farrells
Farrells are engaged in replanning two major west London sites – Earls Court and Old Oak – and few people are more associated with a design vision for London than Sir Terry. Here he discusses what could be envisioned for the sub-region’s future.
5.00 Chair’s Closing Address – Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor of London
5.20 Close
6.00 Drinks reception, followed by the Place West London Dinner – Speaker Sir Eric Peacock
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Speakers shown have confirmed participation except where marked *, which indicates speaker has been invited, but not confirmed. More speakers will be added as they confirm. Speakers are subject to change
