Purpose

To seek cabinet approval to create a Mayoral
Development Corporation for the Northern Gateway, in the Atom
Valley Mayoral Development Zone

Content

Councillor Wardle
declared a pecuniary interest in reference to Item 8 – Atom
Valley Northern Gateway Mayoral Development Corporation and Item 9
– Northern Gateway Development Framework Supplementary
Planning Document by virtue of land ownership in the area
interested by these two proposals. Hence, Councillor Wardle took no
part in the discussion and vote on these items of business.
 
The Cabinet considered
a report of the Director of Economy and Place, which sought
approval of the principles of the Memorandum of Understanding to
formalise the joint working arrangements with Bury Council with the
view to progress the work to deliver
the Atom Valley and the Northern Gateway programmes through a
Mayoral Development Corporation as preferred delivery vehicle.
 
The Head of Strategic
Growth was in attendance to present the
information and to address the questions and the comments of the
Cabinet Members.
 
The Officer informed
that, as outlined in previous reports presented at this Cabinet,
the Council was working in partnership with Bury Council and the
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to bring forward the
Northern Gateway sites, providing a significant boost to employment
opportunities and economic growth locally.
 
Formalisation of the
collaborative working was now proposed
in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding between Bury and
Rochdale Councils.
 
It was also proposed that a Mayoral Development
Corporation (MDC) be created to drive forward the Northern Gateway
sites to delivery reflecting the importance of the sites regionally
and nationally, to be named ‘Atom Valley Northern Gateway
Mayoral Development Corporation’.
 
Resolved:
1.   
That the principles of the Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to formalise the joint working
arrangements with Bury Council to progress work on Atom Valley and
the Northern Gateway be endorsed;
2.   
That authority be delegated to the Director of Economy and Place,
in consultation with the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holder
for Regeneration and Housing, Assistant Director of Legal,
Governance and Coroners and the Director of Corporate Services, to
develop the detail of the joint-district MoU and formalise the agreement, or any subsequent
agreement which is deemed necessary;
3.   
That the creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) as the
preferred delivery vehicle, with its associated name ‘Atom
Valley Northern Gateway’ MDC and boundary (Appendix 2 of the
report) be approved;
4.   
That the public consultation on the creation of the Atom Valley
Northern Gateway MDC be approved;
5.   
That it be noted that a similar report had been presented to and
approved by Bury Council’s Executive on 5 March 2025;
6.   
That  it be noted that, subject to the
decisions of this Council and Bury Council, a report would be
presented to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 28 March
2025 requesting that it endorse the proposal to consult on the
establishment of a Mayoral Development Corporation as the preferred
delivery vehicle for the Northern Gateway;
7.   
That it be noted that a further report would be brought to Cabinet
on conclusion of the public consultation and analysis of responses
with further recommendations in respect of the proposed Atom Valley
Northern Gateway MDC;
8.   
That it be noted that the match funding
required from the Council and detailed in paragraph 6 of the report
can be funded from the existing Atom Valley capital budget in
2025/26.
 
Reason for
decision:
In November 2024,
Cabinet had endorsed the principles of formalising the
collaborative working arrangements with Bury Council in respect of
the Northern Gateway. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had now been
developed to cement alignment of the Council’s shared
commitment to work together with its partners to deliver the
Northern Gateway.
Cabinet had also
endorsed exploration of potential delivery options for the Northern
Gateway and subsequently, joint advice had been
commissioned between the Councils and GMCA and which had
concluded that a Mayoral Development Corporation would be the most
appropriate delivery vehicle to achieve the shared ambitions for
the Northern Gateway.
As the preferred
delivery vehicle for the Northern Gateway, approval to create the
Atom Valley Northern Gateway MDC with its associated boundary would
enable the statutory public consultation to proceed, commencing the
statutory process for creation and implementation.
 
Alternatives
considered and rejected:
1.   
That the principles of the Memorandum of Understanding were not
approved, undermining the collaborative working arrangements with
Bury Council and increasing risk to the delivery of the Northern
Gateway, including to investor confidence;
2.   
That the MDC was not endorsed as the preferred
delivery vehicle for Northern Gateway and the Atom Valley Northern
Gateway MDC was not created, noting that the alternative delivery
vehicles were discounted for a range of reasons, including:
intensive time and resources required to set up, level of risk
share with the private sector, insufficient powers, difficulties in
creating cross-boundary governance and reliance on pending
legislation creating threats to delivery timelines based on an
untested model with no best practice basis.