England's Economic Heartland to contribute to our Oxford 'Science Cities' this month

Image: courtesy of England's Economic Heartland

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Naomi Green, Managing Director of England's Economic Heartland, will be speaking at our 'Science Cities' discussions this month, hosted by Exeter College Oxford at Cohen Quad.

Naomi joined England's Economic Heartland in 2018 and in March 2022 became its Managing Director, responsible for delivering the sub-national transport body's (STB's) work programme. This includes implementation of the regional Transport Strategy; providing advice to Government on the region's investment priorities; and ensuring major schemes, such as East West Rail, are delivered in a way that brings a lasting legacy for the region and the UK as a whole.

In her work, Naomi places significant emphasis on both partnership working and adopting a placed-based approach to planning and investing in connectivity.

Naomi is currently Chair of both the wider South East Rail Partnership and the national STB policy group - the key engagement point for STBs with DfT, National Highways and Network Rail. Prior to joining EEH, Naomi worked in both the government's Cities and Local Growth Unit and the Department for Transport.

England's Economic Heartland is one of seven sub-national transport bodies covering the entirety of England outside of London. it advises the Government on the strategic transport priorities for the region, which includes the entirety of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor. EEH also works to improve existing services and maximise the benefits of forthcoming infrastructure such as East West Rail.

At Future Cities Forum's discussion event in Milton Keynes last March, Naomi was asked her view on why barriers to infrastructure funding continue to prove frustrating:

'My first point is actually around the fiscal situation, just making funding available is such a challenge for us. But it's not just the fiscal situation. I think actually some of that is about how we need to move forward as a region. I certainly have learned a lot over the last couple of years of working at the Supercluster, which has absolutely changed the way that this government works for this region.

'However, the perception that there is value, leads to the thinking that there are pots of gold that we can somehow dig up. And I think it's a really big challenge. So not only on East West Rail, but there are a number of examples, the London Road level crossing in Oxfordshire, the eastern entrances of Bletchley and Cambridge, and the slightly isolated Cambridge East. But with all these things like the Milton Keynes Mass Rapid Transit, which there are constant conversations about, there has to be third party funding. And yet, how we unlock that is quite complex with the Treasury. And so I think there's a really big issue there.

'Secondly, we are working in an era of massive change for local government, not just the organisation in Oxford, Cambridge and Hertfordshire, but also devolution. I think that has then had an implication on funding availability, because there's so much focus in the Department for Transport from a transport perspective on integrated settlements. So we've got our hands tied behind our backs anyway. We work within that environment daily, but we're missing things like Universal.(theme park in Bedfordshire).

'Universal will welcome eight million new visitors to this region in five years' time. 20,000 construction workers are going to have to go and operate in that site in the next five years. We've got 140 coming next week. And that's the start, they're coming already. And yet, we haven't got a mechanism for working with that. And we're opening to the world this new opportunity. I think that's where, as a region, we need to sort of really step in. And it's not just Universal.

'I actually think the thing that we are doing really well, but need to do much, much better, is leverage the voice of the private sector.'

The organisation's latest news welcomes the start of a regular two-hourly service between Oxford, Swindon and Bristol. It says:

'This marks a step-change in connectivity along the Oxford-Swindon-Bath-Bristol corridor, bringing communities closer together and supporting economic growth.

'EEH has worked closely with Network Rail, Western Gateway, the East West Main Line Partnership, Great Western Railway, and local authority partners to make the case for this service. 

'This collaborative approach, bringing together the rail industry, local government and regional businesses, has played a key role in bringing this service to life. This new service is a great step forward - we will continue to work with partners to support delivery of an hourly service, and make the case for this service becoming an integral part of a future service proposition for East West Rail that delivers direct connectivity between Bristol, Swindon, Oxford and Cambridge.'