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"The Government has seen fit to identify Daresbury as one of only two sites they will invest in. They see Halton as a place where we get business done.
"The borough has made massive progress in recent years in terms of changing the profile of the economy away from manufacturing to a much more diverse economy.
"The strengths are our geography, the development of the logistics industry and the multi-million pound investment by Stobart Group in 3MG is significant and will generate thousands of jobs, even in the current climate."
The report notes that the logistics sector – warehousing, transport and supply chain management – was helping to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional manufacturing sectors in the borough.
In 2007, manufacturing contributed 23% of the total GVA, compared with more than 30% in 2002 and nearly 50% in the early 1990s. The report said this "orderly" transition was producing "a more balanced economy", although the dominance of the chemicals industry should not yet be underplayed.
Carl Cross, deputy chairman of Halton Conservatives, said: "The transition is being managed, but there isn’t enough of a dramatic movement.
"Trying to boost the skill-set in the borough will be key, boosting ambition, and then getting people to stay in the borough. There’s a brain drain and if you can develop more successful businesses it will attract people to remain.
"It is an issue for the council and the partner agencies to stimulate growth at a higher level, whether it is in retail, financial services or another sector – that’s happening, but the question is how it can be stepped up."
And the situation within the retail sector does highlight a downside of Halton’s position, and good transport links, between Liverpool, Manchester and Warrington.
Not only is the sector suffering from the downturn on the high street, but in 2006 it was also affected by a £129m negative balance of retail trade. Since then, Liverpool One has opened and Golden Square shopping centre, in Warrington, has expanded, which are both likely to have attracted even more than the recorded 63% of the residents’ retail spend away from the borough.
"We have to be realistic," said Mr Parr. "We are not going to attract to Halton the same retail businesses that Liverpool will.
‘WE NEED to create a retail economy that complements and supplements that core city retail offer for local people in Widnes and Runcorn, so let’s make it easy for our communities to get to Liverpool and Manchester, but let’s provide them with an offer locally that is readily available.
"Let’s not try to be a mini- Liverpool, but let’s be a successful local retail centre."
And Halton does have its own advantages which it can press home, according to Mr Cross.
"The big benefit is the transport links, while the cost base in Halton for new businesses is likely to be much lower than anywhere around it," he said.
"The council has to continue what it has been reasonably successful at doing, which is working with business to show Halton is a very dynamic borough. Halton has to be a place to do business.
"But the rate at which the larger urban conurbations has grown, for example in retail, makes it very difficult for Halton. Especially as the two towns are split by the river, and soon to be split by tolls."
The £431m Mersey Gateway project will see, subject to a public inquiry, the creation of a second bridge across the Mersey which will overhaul the road network when it opens in 2014.
While it is expected to have a significant effect on Liverpool city region, the more local effect of tolling on both the new and existing Silver Jubilee Bridge is harder to predict.
It is symptomatic of the wider future for Halton – there is much to look forward to, but the impact on the borough’s residents is far less clear.