Capital Quarter

Encouraging local business to bid for public sector contracts, yes. But not ear-marking a proportion of procurement for local business - thats a recipe for less competition and higher prices and lower quality for the public sector and taxpayer. Government should always go for the best value (not necessrily cheapest) option. And of course, if every region adopted similar procurement rules, then Welsh business supplying government bodies elsewhere would lose out. The whole "buy local" thing is based on a misunderstanding that trade barriers are somehow good. When they are not. If everyone buys local you haven't boosted overall demand. Instead you have reduced competition and the potential for mutually beneficial trade.

And see this article about Landesbanken:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-a ... -are-still
Not the great success those on the left often like to claim! As I said I think there is a role for state-backed institutions that are willing to take bigger risks in firms with potentially big economic and social returns; or in social enterprises. But not for an institution that provides soft loans to big local employers - in effect using public money to subsidise businesses that can't survive on their own. And politicians should not sit on the board of a Welsh bank - a recipe for corruption and favouratism in the tiny nation we are.

And I'm going to moan some more, Im afraid:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/b ... e-10737326
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local ... gory%20p$7

Wales "first" Science Park to be.. on Anglesea. It's funding so far comes to just over £20m, all from the public sector. A nice idea and good intentions? Almost certainly. But is Anglesea really the place in Wales that is best suited for a major science park? Will it attract and retain the right kind of staff needed? Or would it have been better to choose somewhere like Swansea, Cardiff, or perhaps, N.E. Wales?

And funds for a new cultural centre in Ebbw Vale cannot be found apparently. Now, again, I'm sure this would be nice. But apart from housing, the regeneration of the former stealworks site in Ebbw Vale is again all public-sector led. A new hospital, college, leisure centre, and (proposed) cultural centre. Now a lot of these facilities were likely needed to replace sub-standard existing facilities at the end of their life. But its not exactly the kind of regeneration the area needs.

Wales' politicians are full of good intentions to spread prosperity. But I fear what they are actually doing is developing projects that are destined to underperform or be dominated by the public sector, and that they are harming Wales as a whole by not instead using some of those resources to support more economically productive areas. We need to realise that the M4 corridor and north-eastern A55/A483 corridor will be the key economic drivers for Wales. And we need to make sure we build sufficient houses in these areas so that people don't get locked out of the opportunities they offer.

As a North Whalian I think I'll bite my tongue regarding the above comment about the Science Park in North Wales, it's about time for them to invest in North Wales. Also, it's Anglesey not Anglesea.

Wales "first" Science Park to be.. on Anglesea. It's funding so far comes to just over £20m, all from the public sector. A nice idea and good intentions? Almost certainly. But is Anglesea really the place in Wales that is best suited for a major science park? Will it attract and retain the right kind of staff needed? Or would it have been better to choose somewhere like Swansea, Cardiff, or perhaps, N.E. Wales?

I think you're right to use to use inverted commas around first! There's no reason why a science park on Anglesey shouldn't succeed it it's tied into areas where Bangor University has expertise. I don't know much about the Uni there but I know their Marine Science dept is very highly regarded and there may well other departments that are equally highly rated.

I don't really see how £20m from the Welsh Government for Bangor Uni is different from the £50m the UK Government recently lobbed to Cardiff Uni to capitalize on their expertise in compound superconductors. The money should go to where the academic excellence is.

I was led to believe that Plaid were proposing that public procurement rules be changed so that SME's are not excluded from bidding. Given that Wales' economy is mostly SME's that doesn't seem that daft.

I can't comment on whether a Welsh development bank is a good idea or not but I don't think it's solely a Plaid or left wing initiative. Isn't the Assembly reserach into this area being led by Dylon Jones-Evans or whatever his name is (he's always in the WM) who I think was a Conservative Assembly candidate.

In terms of the Anglesey Science Park I think it's being built at the other end of the Menai Bridge just over the water from Bangor - so basically on the A55. It's also a tie up with Bangor University so I don't think it's a case of something being plonked in the middle of nowhere on the basis of 'if you build it they will come.' I don't really know what is meant by science park although you would hope it would be looking to house spin offs from the University or enticing companies who are working in the same field. I don't know what type of research Bangor Uni is involved in or profess an expertise in and I can't be arsed looking it up as I'm in work.

You would hope that there is some joined up thinking with a view to creating a critical mass of expertise in a specific area of science (energy production rings a bell). I don't think the science park should be condemned solely due to it's location - it's not that far away from large centres of population really. If Bangor is carrying out cutting edge research and companies want to be a part of that then it's probably a better location than Cardiff or Swansea.

Sometimes remote is better for science and engineering.

My employer has some of it's offices miles from anywhere in a number of it's operations and staff working in remote locations on projects all over the world. Sometimes for research, in development and production you need to be away from light pollution, be away from people for safety reasons, be near mountains, near lakes, near the sea, be away from mobile phone masts etc. Science and engineering isn't banking.

Attracting staff isn't an issue either. The location is 2 hours from the North West of England. People travel to work, it's no big deal. There are people living in south Wales travelling to London every day, we have people travelling from Swindon to our offices. If the money is right people do that.

The issue here for me is have the government thought it through and approached the right organisations to partner up with Banger University ?

I agree that Bangor may have particular expertise in certain areas (although its not that great a university generaslly), and that certain types of scientific research activities benefit from being in specialised locations with specific natural amenities.

However, the article doesn't talk about this being a niche offering.It suggests they are aiming for a general science park for "hi tech industry and science research partnerships", and it goes on to list several areas that this could include: low carbon, energy, environment and ICT. Thats quite broad. And I'm sorry but tech/science is an area that is increasingly like banking or professional services, with clusters of these companies forming, increasingly in major urban areas, or areas with established eco-systems of similar firms.

Think Silicon Valley, but also the fact that a lot of the new more innovative firms are now locating not in that suburban locale, but right smack bang in San Fran, 40 miles up the road.

Or the fact that so much research clusters in Cambridge - with Astra Zeneca moving their operations from long standing sites in the North to the city just recently, at quite substantial cost. Or new biomedical research hubs in London despite the ridiculous cost of space: the Wellcome Trust and new Cancer Centres.

Just as with banks it pays to cluster. And its increasingly paying to cluster in major urban centres, as young professionals, even scientists, often want to live in such places. You get the best scope for collaboration, for hiring the best and brightest.

Now, if there is a specialised role for Bangor and a related science park on Anglesey, great. I'm not saying it has no comparative advantage. If this is envisioned as Wales' premier science park, and the focus for efforts to attract high tech industry, I'm saying I would think that would do better in Cardiff or Swansea, where the universities actually have a broader research base, and where its probably easier to get companies and people to cluster. I just think this has the hallmark of something designed to "spread the wealth" around Wales, rather than maximise the potential for Wales as a whole. Or another one of Ieuan's pet projects.

What I think Wales should do is try to work out where there are existing mini-clusters, and the best scope for building clusters.. and invest there.

I agree that Bangor may have particular expertise in certain areas (although its not that great a university generaslly), and that certain types of scientific research activities benefit from being in specialised locations with specific natural amenities. What I think Wales should do is try to work out where there are existing mini-clusters, and the best scope for building clusters.. and invest there.

I don't know much about Bangor - nor do I understand the word 'generaslly'! I'm not picking up on a typo here. I really don't understand what you're trying to say.

"What I think Wales should do is try to work out where there are existing mini-clusters, and the best scope for building clusters.. and invest there."

Isn't that exactly what Bangor is doing?

Noticed a few things on a run this morning:

1. A tower crane is being erected on the student accommodation site. Looking forward to seeing this one going up to add density to the area.

2. The ground floor of number 1 is being fitted out. Anyone know what's going here?

3. Looks like at least some of the MSCP (hopefully all of it) is being clad in bricks (a buff colour). Was thinking we'd have cheap white render so was a pleasant surprise to see this and it matches the brickwork in the areas outside number 1.

4. Some signs of early fit out of number 2 for, I presume, Public Health Wales. But still quite a bit of work to do to finish off the outside areas and they don't seem to be in a rush.

5. Not Capital Quarter I know but I also saw that the no fit state circus site around the corner being demolished. Was a crying shame that they demolished the warehouse previously used by WNO on the site next to it as that would have offered a nice contrast to a new development. Hopefully there'll be the chance to make better use of the arches units as part of the new plans to add a bit of interest to the site and hopefully draw in some independents to make the whole area feel less corporate. The fact that there'll be X hundred students soon moving in just around the corner might draw in some A3 tenants and possibly some retail.

On the issue of Bangor, I would have thought north Wales should be looking more at Cheshire which I think has some successful science parks and must be one of the wealthiest counties in England outside the south east, admittedly with plenty of commuters into the cities. I had a relative from Colwyn and I think a lot of north Wales has gone the same way as many coastal towns. I hope post-devolution we don't move away from the importance of cross border links with the parts of England doing well.