What do we mean by 'growth'

When we talk about 'growth' in the Borough we do not just mean the economic 'growth' that’s the 'growth' that eludes the Chancellor of the exchequer, the governor of the Bank of England and the teams of civil servants at the treasury. It seems to me a bit of a tall order for us at Council to create economic growth, if it is so difficult for those guys to get at. However, that is what we are trying to do as a Council as enablers and encouragers. As it stands our local GDP probably stands at about £750/780 million. This is a figure amassed from every form of business in the Borough. A pretty startling figure and we do have the feeling that we are growing at a far higher rate that the rest of the Country although that is the subject of some detailed analysis. In order to sustain this 'growth' and that is what the government wants us to do; we have to be very aware of what pressures this will put on all of us in the Borough. 'Growth' therefore brings its own problems, in previous blogs I have laid out the financial pressures we as a Council will be under over the next few years and it is clear the what central government is doing is creating a structure to allow us to benefit financially from the whatever growth we can achieve. Final indications from them are eagerly awaited and if we do not get them quickly we will not be able to prepare a budget, but that is another story. So 'growth' will become very important and as a result the pressures on our industrial areas, our transport infrastructure including public transport will be great. In fact in all the areas of our corporate plan i.e. Housing, Community, Economy, Environment and Performance we have to understand and mitigate for 'growth'. Our emerging Local Plan reflects this situation by the Strategic Housing Market Analysis included in such detail basically protecting the Borough from unregulated development. In Community our work in getting areas to be more involved in setting their own standards or running their own community facilities. In the Economy encouraging new and existing businesses to develop and of course making sure we have the right mix of skills from our schools, colleges and universities. The pressure on our unique Environment will be severe but we have to be strong enough and detailed enough to keep our area special. Finally we have to Perform in a much smarter way and grow in our ability to maximise our income from our ownerships whilst keeping that very special Christchurch Borough flavour. So 'growth' comes in many shapes and whilst I hear moans and groans about why can't we stay the same, in these strange economic times, regrettably, that is not an option.