Leaders share their hopes and visions with property summit

Lately, it has been all change in terms of the leadership of the nation, the region and even Derby itself – and at this year’s Derby Property Summit, Claire Ward, the first ever East Midlands Mayor and Councillor Nadine Peatfield, the new leader of Derby City Council took to the stage.

Together they sat down with property summit chair Declan Curry, to discuss their hopes and visions for both the city and region.

Together they sat down with property summit chair Declan Curry, to discuss their hopes and visions for both the city and region.

Declan began by asking Claire about her visit to 10 Downing Street earlier this week.

She, along with other regional mayors from across the UK, met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to discuss handing more powers and funding to the regions.

Speaking about that meeting, Claire said: “It was a recognition that this new government, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister want to work with all of the new metro-mayors to better the country.

“They want to get growth across the regions – and they know it will be the mayors who will help them deliver that.”

In her role, Claire heads up the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), which covers Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

Claire told the summit: “We are a region of two fantastic cities – and lots of towns and smaller communities.

“We want every single one of them to see the value of regional government – and for them all to share in that growth.”

Nadine stressed that although the leadership of Derby City Council had recently changed, its priorities for Derby remain unchanged – to “put people first”.

She told the summit: “Our goal is to create a place for the people, you can’t make one without the other. Everyone in this room is invited to help us achieve this.”

Nadine said a key aim was to see people believe in the city.

She told the summit: “For people outside of the city, we need to make them understand the USPs of Derby and get them to visit the city because it’s a destination.

“2025 is going to be a major year for us with the new Business School, Market Hall, Performance Venue and many other amazing schemes opening, but the positivity goes much further than just 2025.”