Political history in the making

The West of England Combined Authority, or WECA for short (not to be confused with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association), may just be the most important organisation you have never heard of.

At its helm following elections in May will be a metro mayor who will be able to make vital decisions regarding housing, transport and general infrastructure within an area made up of Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils.

“This is quite a watershed moment,” said newly appointed WECA chair, South Gloucestershire Council leader Matthew Riddle (not to be confused with the professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist), with Bristol mayor Marvin Rees appointed vice chair.

Groans followed this particular statement, made as it was at the Watershed on Wednesday afternoon, but it was part of a genuinely historic day for Bristol and the wider region.

Devolving power from Westminster to a regional authority such as this one is an idea which has been in the pipeline for many years, and it has finally came to fruition.

Wednesday’s inaugural meeting marked the start of things to come. So why should the people of Bristol be interested in the WECA?

Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol
“This is a gateway. If you do the deal, you get access to government, you get access to extra investment. We’ve got a lot of work to do to make that real, but that’s what we’ve opened ourselves to right now. And we know that from congestion, and that needs to be tackled across borders… to home building, to making sure we are lining up our supply of a skilled workforce, both for the sake of the economy but also for the sake of other peoples’ development, they get access to the opportunities they deserve. It’s absolutely essential that we’re in this deal.”

Tim Warren, Bath & North Eat Somerset Council leader
“It’s a big change in the way that the whole of the West of England’s going to work. It gives us more independence. It’s a great big step forward for the whole of the West of England as a whole and hopefully we can come a long way. We all blame the government, but for years we’ve been saying we can do it better so now is our chance to prove it.”

Matthew Riddle, South Gloucestershire Council leader
“It’s important because it’s three council areas coming together to try and tackle the issues that cross our boundaries. No road starts in South Gloucestershire and ends in South Gloucestershire. A lot of roads in South Gloucestershire start in South Gloucestershire and end up in Bristol. So it’s trying to get more joined up about tackling some of those big issues like getting more public transport, reducing the congestion. We’re also looking at skills for adults and housing delivery. And all three of those things go across council boundaries.”

David Redgewell, Bus Users UK
“If you want to see your buses improved, if you want to see walking and cycling improved, if you want to see better railways stations or improved railways services to Portishead, stations like Pill or Ashton gate, or stations around Henbury or around Filton, those are the powers the mayor will have on transport, rather like Ken Livingstone and Boris had in London. So this is an opportunity to shape the agenda and argue with London for more money to improve our transport.”

Main photo left to right: Marvin Rees, Tim Warren and Matthew Riddle

Read more: Who will become the 2017 metro mayor?