South Lanarkshire councillors have approved the council’s new five year Economic Strategy.
Draft proposals of the South Lanarkshire Economic Strategy 2022 to 2027 were approved at an executive meeting in June.
Following this, an online community consultation was carried out with feedback used to form the finalised document which was approved earlier this week.
The Strategy and Action Plan has been drafted to take account of the rapidly changing economy at international, national and local levels.
Key themes of the strategy are people, place and business which will define the council’s ambitions for the future and form actions the council will make to meet strategic goals.
Councillor Alex Allison (Clydesdale East), called out the plan’s reference to good transport links, as in some rural communities, there is a lack of services.
He said: “The report refers to our excellent regional and national transport links, I don’t think that I can fully agree with that.
“The rail network doesn’t have a station in my part of Clydesdale; they only have a bypass, and many rural communities don’t have a bus service. I think this paper needs to have an impact on what’s happening in the rural communities.”
Council officers stated that there are challenges within the network, but the strategy aims to sell South Lanarkshire as an overall entity which does have good transport links from across Scotland.
Chairman of the council’s community and enterprise resources committee, Councillor Robert Brown, said: “South Lanarkshire has enormous potential, and the council administration is determined that, with our partners, we will build the most dynamic, most sustainable and most enterprising economy possible.
“Ensuring our area has a robust sustainable economic recovery strategy will help improve the quality of life for everyone, creating more jobs and development opportunities as we progress.
“Our central location and key transport links make South Lanarkshire a great place to get any business up and running and developing its full potential, whether in food and drink, tourism, construction, social care, manufacturing or emerging sectors like green technology and IT that will help build the sustainable economy of the future.
“Our skilled workforce is our greatest asset and providing more high value jobs will build prosperity and help tackle the issues of poverty and inequality.
“That is why our strategy will ensure that South Lanarkshire remains one of the best places in Scotland to do business.”
The strategy will go through a graphic design process to introduce infographics and images to ensure the document is user friendly.
The council aims to finalise the graphic design of the content and publish it through the council website.
During the implementation phase, annual updates on measuring the success of the Strategy and Action Plan will be provided to relevant council committees.
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