North West England is home to over seven million people making it the third most populous UK region. The majority of its population lives in urban regions which are well served in terms of infrastructure.
The North West has expertise in the nuclear and wider power sector and is well supported by renewable resources. Further nuclear and renewable projects are in development but it is unlikely they can provide sufficient energy to meet the shortfall in energy generation as nuclear sources are decommissioned.
The North West stands to benefit economically and socially from a wide range of large transport scale projects over the next two decades. However, the condition of regional road network is a cause for concern and there are signs of serious deterioration on our highways. On rail, parts of the West Coast Main Line are already operating at capacity.
Increases in waste recycling and reuse continue, particularly in the municipal sector, although rates vary from over 60% to below 30%. Greater Manchester’s infrastructure investment has assisted its local authorities to achieve some of the higher recycling rates in the North West.
On flooding, the North West has adopted an integrated capital investment programme. This combines flood defences with a holistic management of fluvial and surface water flood risk, and upstream catchment measures to improve building and infrastructure resilience to flooding.
State of the Nation 2014: North West
Content type: Policy
