Harlow Renaissance Ltd. was incorporated in July 2006 to drive forward the regeneration and growth process in Harlow. Our role is to deliver a range of renewal programmes in the short-term whilst paving the way for longer-term growth opportunities and a more prosperous town.
The company held its first formal meeting in October 2006 and commenced its activities in early 2007 with the recruitment of a staff team.
Initially, the company was established as an interim delivery vehicle pending decisions upon the longer-term direction of growth as established by the East of England Plan. However, there is clearly a long-term role to be performed and our Business Plan sets out an ambitious long-term vision as well as activities to complete the two year programme set out in our first Business Plan that was published in April 2007.
Harlow Renaissance has four Members:
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The Government Office for the East of England (GO-East) has full observer status on the company’s Board. Additional Board representation is derived from Harlow’s Local Strategic Partnership, Harlow 2020, with a private sector Chair and four independent Directors bringing a range of additional expertise.
The company is primarily funded by central government through the Department of Communities and Local Government with additional contributions received from Harlow Council, Essex County Council and EEDA. English Partnerships also made contributions to some project activity.
The role of Harlow Renaissance is to support our partners who hold the statutory responsibilities. We should supplement rather than supplant, complement rather than compete. In this context we see three key functions which the company must perform:
Delivery: to deliver Growth Area Fund and other projects delegated to us to quality, time and budget.
Collaboration: to act as a catalyst for consensus-building and co-operation, holding the ring and facilitating the dialogue between our partners and other key stakeholders.
Boldness: to import big thinking and innovation into all our debates, complementing the creativity of our partners and acting as agents provocateurs for the radical and long-term transformation of Harlow - not for the sake of it, but with the sole purpose of enabling a sustainable and cohesive community which plays its full role in the sub-region and Essex as a whole.
Details of our current activity can be found in our Business Plan but for 2008/09 our core priorities are:
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Bringing forward detailed plans for the re-development of the northern part of
Harlow Town Centre
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The facilitation of bold ideas to create a strong vision for Harlow’s Local Development Framework
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Secure additional investment to support Harlow’s regeneration and growth