Metro Mayor Manifestos

West of England Combined Authority

JLL's blueprint for a successful and sustainable city region.

Our recommendations for the Mayor of West of England Combined Authority.
Invest in the jobs and skills that will attract, retain and develop talent, businesses and further investment, and grow the local economies
  • Promote the region’s expertise in technology and innovation by providing sufficient low-cost flexible space for 'grow on' businesses to and encourage councils to fund these in suburban locations providing a choice to work ‘close to home’ as well as from home
  • Ensure sufficient employment land is allocated in a choice of locations across our cities and region for traditional sectors such as manufacturing, storage and engineering (to avoid jobs and firms being pushed out)
  • Prioritise retraining in areas that have suffered permanent structural changes due to Covid-19 such as retail and hospitality, and those at long term risk due to job automation – supporting Higher Education, Further  Education and vocational education to provide the retraining needs our people will need for growth
  • Convince all regional local authorities to work together given job creation has no boundaries, and a unified region would increase opportunities through greater co-ordination and a single voice.  For example, working together on larger regional opportunities such as competing on a national stage for the location of future gigafactories, thereby recognising the positive impact this would have to jobs, skills and growth across the whole region
Deliver safe, secure and affordable homes for all, that meet or improve quality of life
  • Set out a flexible masterplan of housing needs, taking into consideration an ageing population, changing demographics and different end user needs such as the trend towards long term rental as a lifestyle choice
  • Ensure delivery of a range of housing types and tenures, including build to rent, affordable housing and social housing, as well as purpose-built student schemes, co-living and specialist later living accommodation
  • Encourage further collaborative working between the property sector and local authorities to support the delivery of new accommodation for the homeless e.g. East Street Mews
Lead the way on climate action and resilience, and the transition to a net zero carbon economy
  • Pilot small scale programmes, such as a Net Zero Town, that can be used as a template for how to successfully retrofit homes and decarbonise commercial buildings
  • Press ahead with ambitious transport plans to deliver green connectivity across the region and within our cities
  • Allow the city to grow to provide sustainable connectivity between jobs and communities as opposed to satellite housing that demands high and unsustainable transport funding  
  • Ensure a diverse land use mix continues to exist in our cities so jobs are retained close to housing and avoids the need for unnecessary travel  
  • Accelerate the deployment of EV infrastructure in public places to encourage the take up of electric vehicles
Reshape urban cores and reimagine high streets and town and city centres
  • Invest into the High Street and other areas to provide new incubator hospitality for independent start-ups creating innovation hospitality clusters, driving street footfall and stimulating new hospitality (something Bristol and the South West does well and can be proud of)
  • Work with local authorities to move at pace and remove barriers to repurposing retail units (reducing protected retail frontages)
  • See investment in the planning authority team (hiring more people) as a clear growth stimulus so investors can obtain the best joined up and timely advice to create the change our cities require and the jobs/prosperity that follow
  • With councils holding many long leases on existing under-performing retail property, resource and progress a review in conjunction with the City Centre Masterplan to allow the right leases to be extended to allow landlords and developers sufficient timescales to facilitate regeneration and new investment
  • We support the master planning of city areas to set aims, actions and targets but we would encourage flexibility when it comes to specific sites so they can be brought forward quickly to react to market conditions and opportunities