The chairman of Perth City Leadership Forum has called upon everyone in the area to become “ambassadors” for Perthshire in the new year and beyond.
Mike Robinson, who is also the chief executive of the Perth-based Royal Scottish Geographical Society, is calling on more people to have a “sense of place and pride in the area”, and to help build its social, environmental and economic resilience.
What is Perth City Leadership Forum?
Perth City Development Board was established almost 10 years ago as an independent body to get the private sector involved in planning and to help develop economic potential for Perth.
When Mr Robinson took over as chairman of what is now the Perth City Leadership Forum in 2020, as featured in The Courier, he decided to “streamline” the forum from 45 to 14 members in a bid to be “more focused”.
One of the aspirational priorities is to make Perth the most sustainable small city in Europe.
Reflecting on the year gone by, Mr Robinson said: “Ultimately it is about how our area succeeds – how the people of Perthshire and Kinross are getting on, how our businesses and communities are coping, how our environment is flourishing or not, and what we can all do to help create a more positive future for the Perthshire and environs.
“It is clear the council cannot do this alone so it is vital that we engage and help co-ordinate those individuals and businesses who can help.
“The more we can work together across sectors and communities, channel efforts towards the shared goal of creating the most sustainable small city, and build on the endemic natural strengths of the whole of Perthshire and Kinross, the more we will achieve.”
‘Eventful’ year
Mr Robinson said it had undoubtedly been an “eventful” year, and one that has been difficult for many.
Despite these setbacks, Perth City Leadership Forum has been busy – despite being volunteers and despite the pressures of their own business concerns and work pressures.
“Much of this has been focused behind the scenes in laying the ground work for future projects and securing support from all sorts of businesses, individuals and public bodies, interested in helping develop Perth as the most sustainable small city in Europe,” he said.
“Whilst this clearly remains a long-term aspiration, the vision alone has generated good will, support and already begun to help influence funding to the area, and we hope we can build on this throughout 2023.”
Investments by employers
Mr Robinson noted there had been investments by many of the larger employers such as SSE in new staff, Aviva in sustainability measures, and Stagecoach bringing 60 new jobs to the area with their UK customer contact centre, and the plans to make Perth the first city in Scotland with a fully electric fleet.
The leadership forum has backed these efforts and convened key business figures around the sustainable small city vision and around a response to the cost of living crisis. This will continue into 2023.
Vision of the future
“We have a major project we are developing to test a private energy grid for the area,” he added, “making electric and heat supplies local and renewable, which if we can pull it off, will not only make the city and other towns in the area, significantly carbon neutral, but will also allow local control of energy pricing and make the area more energy independent.
“We believe it could also lead to increased training opportunities, and new jobs and skills development longer term too.
“We have worked closely with Perth and Kinross Council and a large number of other organisations, to raise the ambition for Perth and Perthshire and have given presentations locally and nationally about the various key aims.
“We have also received a lot of requests and hosted a dozen presentations – a reminder of the huge and largely untapped skills base that there is locally.
“There is a vast amount of expertise, creativity, initiative and determination in the people living in this area, and it reinforces our belief that the more people who can help, and get behind a shared agenda, the more we can see our area thrive and develop.”
How to become a Perth ambassador
Anyone interested in becoming a Perth ambassador can find out more via the website at www.perthambassadors.co.uk
Conversation