ABSTRACT
Chapter 8 examined the growing interest of local authorities in their local economies particularly over the last decade, and how this concern has grown from a desire to ensure the provision of premises to a much wider involvement in all aspects of economic development. Nevertheless the main thrust, at least until very recently, has been in industrial development. The first part of this chapter examines how and why this activity has changed during the post-war era from simple beginnings when land was acquired and parcelled up into fully serviced plots (still a mainstay of many local authorities involvement in industrial development) through to the intense period of direct development of industrial premises in the latter half of the last decade and more recently to an emphasis on a wider strategy and greater involvement of the private sector in a variety of partnership agreements and fiscal incentives from central government. The second part of the chapter examines the main alternatives open to a local authority of implementing development on land within its ownership and their respective advantages and disadvantages. The concluding section examines the process of achieving implementation once a decision has been made on the method to be employed.
