John Keyes, International Partner and Head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Manchester office comments on the election of Andy Burnham as the first Greater Manchester Metro Mayor:
“We welcome the progress of devolution in the North West and the election of Metro Mayors for our major conurbations. Our city regions need a strategic approach and greater autonomy from Whitehall. National policies and funding formulas rarely serve the best interests of our towns and cities.
The Metro Mayors will have a critical role to play in championing their city regions with government.
In Greater Manchester, in particular, devolution and the mayor is a logical development based on many years of collaborative working across local authority boundaries.
Andy Burnham has said he is positive about development but that it needs to be of good quality and in the right place. The industry will be watching carefully to see how he takes forward the Greater Manchester Spatial Strategy, given his stated reservations during the campaign. We want him to make this a priority and to avoid undue delays that can so often blight development.
We hope the new Mayors will find ways to engage with the property industry and listen to our views. The industry has been at the heart of the region’s success over the last 20 years and we want to work with the Metro Mayors to continue the success story.”
