The Bristol Temple Quarter Limited Liability Partnership (BTQ LLP) has announced that the new independent Chair of its Board will be Lyn Garner, the former CEO of the London Legacy Development Corporation.
Garner brings with her a wealth of experience from a career spent in a range of roles linked to placemaking and development. For the last seven years she has successfully led the delivery of the most successful Olympic and Paralympic legacy programme in recent times.
Alongside this role, Garner is a member of the New Towns Taskforce, charged with supporting the government to deliver the next generation of new towns; is Senior Professional Lead for Housing for the Greater London Authority (GLA), and recently stepped down as Chair of Future of London, an organisation for built environment professionals, after 11 years as a Director of the company.
Prior to these roles, Garner also held senior positions at the London Boroughs of Haringey and Hammersmith & Fulham, and was seconded to the GLA as Executive Director Development & Environment.
Through the application process, Garner impressed BTQ Board members and the CEOs of each of the BTQ LLP members with her understanding of the vision and ambitions for the transformation of the BTQ area, her credibility within the development community and Government, and her passion for placemaking and inclusive growth.
The role of the Chair will be crucial to supporting BTQ LLP achieve its aims. As a figurehead for the programme, Garner will oversee the work of BTQ LLP, drive progress and delivery, and act as an ambassador for BTQ with Government and stakeholders. Garner will also oversee the recruitment of non-executive board directors to join members from the three public sector partners, adding new skills and experience to the board.
Lyn Garner, incoming Chair of the BTQ LLP Board, said:
“I am really enthused and excited to take this role on at a pivotal moment for BTQ. It’s clear to me that all the building blocks are in place to support high quality placemaking as we approach the market to secure our private sector partner. I feel confident that Temple Quarter can help drive significant inward investment and economic growth locally, regionally, and nationally, placing our region among the most important economic areas in the UK.”
Dan Norris, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“Lyn clearly demonstrated that she has the skills and experience to lead Bristol Temple Quarter through the next stage of its development, working to deliver one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects here in the West of England with 10,000 new homes and 22,000 new jobs for local people. As an accomplished leader in local and regional government, and a passionate advocate for placemaking, I am confident that Lyn will be an effective ambassador for the programme locally, in Westminster, and with developers to seize the opportunity for £1.6 billion of extra annual economic growth.”
Tony Dyer, Leader of Bristol City Council, said:
“Lyn is an experienced leader with a range of roles that will complement her work as BTQ Chair. Her clear commitment to inclusive growth will support our ambitions to make BTQ an example of how to bring forward transformational change in the right way. Her appointment is another milestone for BTQ and I am looking forward to working with her as Temple Quarter continues to develop.”
Eamonn Boylan, CEO, Homes England, said:
“Bristol Temple Quarter is one of Homes England’s flagship regeneration schemes. Throughout the process, Lyn demonstrated a clear grasp and appreciation of the type of challenges and issues the partnership will face, and how her wealth of experience will help to overcome them. She is highly regarded within the sector, and her ability to leverage her networks on BTQ LLP’s behalf will be a major asset to Bristol and the region.”
The announcement of the new Chair was made at an event to mark the launch of the process to select a private sector partner for BTQ. The event saw developers, stakeholders and political leaders come together to celebrate this significant milestone for the programme.
Tony Dyer, Leader of Bristol City Council, used the occasion to unveil the BTQ Charter. The Charter aims to bring the public sector, developers and community groups active in Temple Quarter together around a shared set of ambitions for inclusive growth. To find out more, visit the inclusive growth page of the website.
