Blog by David Walker, chief executive, Sunderland arc

With all the Government cuts and current uncertainty surrounding the public sector hitting the headlines recently I thought it would be useful to update you on where we are.
The scale of cuts is something that is affecting all sectors and regeneration is no different.

Clearly we have now got to reassess how we take things forward. We recently received notification from One North East (who themselves will be gone by March 2012) that they will be cutting 10% of our funding this year. Fortunately we are a prudent organisation and whilst this will obviously hurt what we do, we are confident we can take it on board without it impacting on front line delivery.

Sunderland has seen a number of capital projects cut or put on hold and sadly this includes the proposed new bridge. Having worked on this project since our inception it is disappointing to see this happen, particularly given the regeneration impact the bridge would have.

There are reasons to be optimistic for the future though. We now have significant land holdings in the city centre, which we have acquired over the past few years with excellent support from our partners. This provides the opportunity to really shape the way a city can work economically. The Economic Masterplan for Sunderland that is now being finalised has received a high degree of support from the public and partners in the city. The arc is adopting this as its strategy going forward. It focuses on how the city will earn its living over the next 10 to 15 years and focuses on themes such as Low Carbon industries, software and innovation, with the likes of Nissan and the University playing key roles.

The emphasis over the next 12 to 18 months should be about creating demand for future development through business investment. It is going to be tough but Sunderland is well placed to make the most of the economic recovery whenever that comes. The combination of land assets and a plan for the future economy will prove a powerful combination.

All eyes are on the Comprehensive Spending Review, due out in October, but it is unlikely we will receive further clarity on where this places Sunderland until the end of the year.