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Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Board has appointed Guy Nicholson as its new Independent Chair to help steer the direction of the delivery of the Harlow & Gilston Garden Town.
Guy’s role will see him leading the Garden Town Board, supporting the Garden Town Director, the Delivery team and the communities in and around Harlow to realise the ambitious Garden Town Vision that has been adopted by the five Councils.
Guy brings the regeneration experience to take the Garden Town forward. Over the last 20 years he has been involved in realising regeneration projects for communities. He has served on the Board of an HM Government backed Development Corporation and been part of the London 2012 Olympics project, supporting local communities shape the Bid, the Games and the Legacy. He has Local Government experience of town centre economic and cultural led regeneration initiatives. He is a Board member for a number of Arts organisations and is Group Chair for the UK’s leading provider of responsible finance for businesses at the heart of the economy which provides finance, advice and spaces for people to start and then scale up their businesses.
Councillor Danny Purton, outgoing Chair of the Garden Town Board comments, “Guy’s appointment is a significant milestone in the Garden Town project. Whilst much early work has already been undertaken in establishing some of the key building blocks, such as the Garden Town Vision, the establishment of a Quality Review Panel, and the emerging Garden Town team, the appointment of Guy as Chair will take forward the vision and determination needed to bring the Garden Town project to fruition.”
Guy Nicholson comments, “It is a great privilege to be appointed Chair of the Garden Town Board and I am looking forward to working with everyone to create a great Garden Town that everyone can be proud of.
“Sitting at the heart of the UK’s Innovation Corridor, Harlow has the ambition and confidence to embrace the new whilst celebrating the heritage created by Sir Frederick Gibberd and the New Town movement. From becoming the home for new industries to realising our ambitions to live in good homes in great neighbourhoods; from introducing new public transport systems to supporting local businesses to grow. We have an extraordinary opportunity before us and the Garden Town can help realise it.
“The Garden Town embraces five principles – to be adaptable, accessible, healthy, sustainable and innovative. To ensure these principles serve us well today and leave something of great value for the generations to come, we will need a consensus that is built on understanding, sensitivity, imagination and hard work. My job is to build this consensus so together we can realise the extraordinary