In the garden of England

Kent has long been known as the ‘Garden of England’ but its strategic position between London and mainland Europe has seen it play a significant role as a ‘gateway’ to the UK

The county of Kent flags high in the national iconography for the white cliffs of Dover; the town itself can trace its origins as a settlement back 4,000 years and for centuries it has served a critical role as a port city. That role remains important today. I t is a regular port of call for international cruise liners and is a hive of ferry activity, with vessels hoping back and forth to Calais, which is only 21 miles distant.

Before 1994, when the Channel Tunnel opened, ports such as Dover and Folkestone (which closed its cross-channel passenger service in 2000) were the county’s only links with the continent. Nowadays, Kent’s ‘gateway’ role is augmented by its ‘land link’ undersea that joins Folkestone with Pas-de-Calais in France. The opening of the tunnel effectively connected London with Paris and Brussels, regular Eurostar passenger services ensuring there is no need for ‘land lubbers’ to test their sea legs on a cross-channel ferry.

The European connection, whether by sea or by rail, is important to Kent’s economy but also the wider UK’s, but was never the be-all-and-end-all; agriculture was a key sector – it didn’t earn the garden title for nothing – as was industry. Over the last 20-30 years, however, Kent’s economy has seen some dramatic shifts.

In the past the county was home to traditional industries such as ship building, docks, mass tourism, paper and cement manufacturing and coal mining, but after the recession of the 1980s, these fell into long-term decline. The Kent Coalfield opened in 1890 and by 1975 it employed 3,000 miners, but in 1989 the last colliery, Betteshanger closed. Four centuries of military tradition ended in 1984, when the Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham closed, eliminating 7,000 jobs, all told this marks a decline of industry in the region that will resonate with N orthern towns and cities that underwent the same experience.

Since then, Kent has managed to re-invent itself, diversifying the economy and boasting some 50,000 VAT registered businesses. These days the economy is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, some 98 per cent of the registered businesses in 2009. The county is distinctly proud of this entrepreneurial spirit.

Major infrastructural investment has helped to support and nurture this economic shift, including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, but also motorway improvements, the construction of the Sheppey Crossing and Leybourne bypass, the development of Kent International Airport and the creation of business parks such as Kings Hill and Manston Eurokent.

For all the changes, Kent County Council envisages more to come and is focused on the strategic plans needed to continue to grow the county in terms of its economy, its infrastructure, jobs and housing. The challenges are many. And, of course, growing the economy puts pressure on the need for housing, together with all the necessary infrastructure to support neighbourhoods and communities.

“[R]egeneration is not simply economic growth – vital though that is – it is also about transformation in education and skills, the culture renaissance in the country and an efficient transport system that supports both the economy and the residents. It is about improved housing conditions, particularly for the most vulnerable both young and old,” said the council in a 2009 strategy document.

“We need a new civic vision for the county of Kent, demonstrating the power of local people, local businesses, local government and the public sector working together to plan for positive change and regeneration in the county. We must work with our partners and district planners in particular, to develop policies that will unleash the economic potential of our county.”

The county takes in a mix of the urban and the rural, not to mention the coastal. The principle city is Canterbury, famed for its Cathedral, with other primary settlements – those ports mentioned above not withstanding – being Dartford, Gravesham, Sevenoaks, and more. The county council itself takes no role in housing, but works at the greater strategic level, working in partnership with the various borough and district councils.

Many of these have retained their housing stock, but some – such as Sevenoaks, T onbridge and M alling, and Tunbridge Wells councils – have divested their stock to housing associations. Regardless, all the authorities work with a range of housing providers in an effort to meet the housing needs of the
county’s residents.

Kent is notable for establishing the first joint-authority ALMO – East Kent Housing (EKH). The organisation went live in April this year when it took over the management of some 18,000 council homes. It is the result of a collaboration between four councils – Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet – who are all ‘shareholders’ in the arms’ length management company.

“As four relatively small housing services with dwindling resources, managers felt that they didn’t have sufficient capacity to develop and improve the service much further,” said a spokesperson for the organisation. “There were also concerns about resilience and a feeling that the housing world was moving on with larger housing associations becoming more dominant in the county and the councils having less clout and influence.”

The four authorities did not establish EKH in order to secure Decent Homes funding, since the homes already met the standard; rather the intention was to improve the efficiency and the quality of service to tenants. Around 220 staff transferred to the new body and over the course of its first year, it is hoped it will secure about £600,000 worth of savings in running costs. There were a lot of “complexities and challenges” involved in creating this four-way sharing.

“One of the most contentious issues in setting up shared services has been questions of ownership and control,” the spokesperson added. “The model adopted within East Kent, after reviewing other alternatives, requires one council to host the services and effectively run it on behalf of others. How support costs are apportioned to the shared service and how the efficiency benefits are distributed often becomes a bone of contention and politicians are concerned about the potential for jobs being relocated outside their area. There is inevitably a lot of horse trading but the question of hosting is often a major stumbling block.”

Establishing an ALMO wasn’t the original intention behind establishing the sharing of services, but it quickly became apparent to the four partners that the ALMO model was the ideal vehicle for overcoming the problems. With the model established, the next step was to work with tenants, both to revise and refine the model, but also to overcome initial scepticism and gain the approval of the tenants. After a lengthy process, the proposal subsequently won favour among a majority of tenants.

Meanwhile, to the North of the county, Kent is playing its part in largescale regeneration as part of the Thames Gateway. The Thames Gateway Kent Partnership (TG KP) was formed in 2001. A public-private partnership, it takes in Dartford, Gravesham, Medway and Swale, and is one of three similar partnerships which together form the Thames Gateway Strategic Group.

The regeneration programme is intended to deliver jobs and help stimulate new businesses, as well as help deliver Crossrail. Earlier this year, Thames Gateway minister Bob Neill visited to gain an impression of how things are progressing. He said: “The innovative redevelopment of Lafarge’s cement works will play an important role in supporting the delivery of Crossrail and is a great example of how an old industrial site can be transformed in to exciting new opportunities, creating hundreds of much-needed new homes and jobs.

And with the promise of 75 new businesses moving into The Base in Dartford, I believe the Thames Gateway is well and truly open for business.” Efforts to boost Kent’s economic performance have seen the creation of an Enterprise Zone in the Eastern end of the county. In August, the Government announced a package of incentives for businesses at Discovery Park, Sandwich, as part of the new zone. This is expected to support up to 2,600 jobs and 190 businesses, with simplified planning rules and tax breaks to promote growth. The measures complement investment to strengthen flood defences for both the town and the business park.

“Never has there been a more important time to unleash the power of our towns and cities as engines for growth,” said communities minister Greg Clark when the zone was announced. “The decision to award East Kent its Enterprise Zone status shows how much promise it has to deliver much-needed new jobs and homes. The people of Kent, its local businesses and civic leaders are ready to take up the reins of the local economy, with the Discovery Park at the centre of their plan to accelerate growth.”

Paul Carter, leader of the county council and Chair of the Sandwich Economic Taskforce said: “Securing an Enterprise Zone and sorting out flood defences to secure the site are massively important in enabling inward investment and job creation to take place. Not only have we been able to negotiate flood protection for the Sandwich site, but also for the residents and businesses of Sandwich town.”

In 2009, when the county council published the strategy document ‘Unlocking Kent’s Potential’, the authors wrote that Kent was at a crossroads. It chose to pass through the gateway to growth.