RSS East Of England Plan - Broads Authority

East of England Plan 23
POLICY E4: Clusters
Local Development Documents should support the sustainable and dynamic growth of inter-regional and intraregional
sectors and business clusters including:
• the life-science regional super-cluster with concentrations in the Cambridge sub-region, Hertfordshire, Cranfield
and Norwich;
• the energy cluster on the Norfolk/Suffolk coast;
• the environmental technologies cluster stretching from Essex to Cambridgeshire with a particular focus on
Peterborough;
• the motor sports cluster with a focal point at Hethel in Norfolk linking to Cranfield;
• the multimedia cluster from London to Hertfordshire and in Norfolk;
• the ICT cluster in the Cambridge area; and
• the ICT/telecommunications cluster around Ipswich
Local Development Documents should also support and provide guidance for locally important clusters defined by
local economic partnerships in collaboration with local authorities and EEDA by:
• ensuring the availability of a sufficient quantity, quality and choice of sites including provision for incubator units,
grow-on space and larger facilities for established business clusters;
• addressing accommodation needs close to key institutions, such as universities; and
• addressing the need for user restrictions to secure the use of premises for specific activities.
4.14 Sectors are categories of businesses in the same industrial group. Clusters are ‘concentrations of companies in related
activities, specialised suppliers, service providers and institutions, which are co-operating, competing and collaborating
to build competitive advantage, often across traditional sector boundaries’. Such concentrations often depend on
access to specialist skills and infrastructure.
4.15 The Regional Economic Strategy highlights the importance of certain sectors and clusters, some with international quality
research capacity, such as life sciences including biosciences and pharmaceuticals. Other key sectors include food,
automotive, construction and built environment, transport gateways, environmental goods and services and renewable
energy (Policy ENG 2 identifies renewable energy targets and relevant environmental considerations). Other sectors
should be supported as essential components of a successful regional economy including finance and business services,
the creative and cultural sector, and tourism, heritage and leisure. There is potential for economic links to be strengthened
between Cambridge and Ipswich and westwards through Bedfordshire to Milton Keynes and Oxford, the Oxford to
Cambridge Arc.
4.16 Other opportunities merit further analysis. EEDA working with partners should develop concepts and ideas and identify
appropriate interventions and support. Opportunities include:
• micro-renewables, biofuel production and other technologies related to the need to reduce carbon emissions; and
• ‘green businesses’ based on environmental industries, for example those specialising in recycling or exchange of
materials.