Council chief executive John Edwards on putting Rotherham on the map

Having been in the town’s most senior position for just over a year Edwards has had plenty of chances to connect with residents, colleagues, partner organisations – whether in the public or private sector – and, on the political side, councillors and local MPs.

And with the privilege of managing the council’s day to day running also comes daily judgement from the very same people.

But so far Edwards is pleased with how the first 12 months have gone. He said: “At a very personal level it has been fantastic. I was in the civil service for eight years and that wish to be connected more to a place, and the spirit of partnership here has bowled me over.

“I worked in local government previously for 14 years and that connection with politicians is something I’d missed.”

Edwards is open that he’s lived in Sheffield since 2000 and also honest to say he didn’t know Rotherham very well until he started working here.

“Each day I feel like I learn something new about the borough,” he told the Advertiser during an interview from his Riverside House office which overlooks a major part of the town centre regeneration plan.

“I do ward walks – two a month which gets me around all 25 in year, when I squeeze another one in one month. I was in Maltby last week.

"That sense with connecting with ward members and seeing and understanding the impact that we do, and also hearing the connection back to residents is really powerful.

"The strength of the organisation is pleasing – we’re always looking to improve, but getting Children’s Services up to Outstanding, Adult Social Care now Good, those services are least celebrated but very important to vulnerable people.

“The leadership part is important – you’re a valid leader if you’re performing well.”

Like most towns of its size Rotherham faces its challenges. And for residents those challenges are magnified for the simple fact that we live here and deal with them on a day to day basis.

Edwards said he was under no illusion of the difficulty of the job, but prefers to look at it from a more positive standpoint.

He said: “Every chief executive job regardless of the background is a tough gig. I enjoy the challenges that all the roles I’ve had over the years.

"Actually when I was doing research and due diligence the strongest message I was getting wasn’t that it was a tough gig because of the history but the opportunity to build on the job that Sharon (previous chief executive Sharon Kemp) had done.

"She was named chief executive of the year the week before I started on the Monday – I messaged her to say ‘well done and thanks!’

"People refer to the past everywhere, but I knew there was an extraordinary opportunity here.”

Maybe it’s his love of cricket that gives Edwards a boundless sense of optimism. After all, it is a game that is often dictated by issues that you have no control over. But what you can influence you have to make the most of.

He says we have to grasp the opportunity given to the town by Rotherham Gateway Station – a mainline railway station sited near Parkgate.

"I think that the next stage of that confidence is connectivity,” he explained. “We've got the tram train, we've got really strong bus services, obviously franchising is coming and that'll be a great opportunity for SYMCA to build on that.

“But for us, getting the mainline station with Northern Powerhouse Rail. Journey times to Leeds will be half an hour, into Sheffield 10 minutes, and connected potentially to Manchester, York, Birmingham.

“Those are really significant game-changers and you know if you think that at half an hour from Leeds we're close to places like Ilkley.

"It isn't about everybody going to other places to get a job, but we know that there are certain sectors and aspects of the economy that work around the big core cities, and so us connecting ourselves to the big core cities gives us the maximum chance for our residents to still live here but to have that opportunity to really go.

"So I still think connectivity is the big thing. And it isn't just the station it's that opportunity. Think what we've done at the Advanced Manufacturing Park and with the gateway development we will have land and space for growing the sort of medium-sized business that can really spin out from that kind of innovation.”

As well as cricket, Edwards’ other love is trains and railways. Warming to the theme, he explained what would come next.

"The hook for it all is the transport infrastructure and the space between,” he said. “On that site we've got the tram train on one side and the local railway line goes through, so essentially we've got the main line and the infrastructure on the tram train line – the infrastructure, platforms, somewhere to sit and wait for the train, that sort of stuff.

"The physical infrastructure together with the plaza between, that's really key, will be that first tangible sign. It'll be getting the housing developed, getting the industrial development, which will sit alongside that but they won't necessarily run to exactly the same timeline, it depends on investment plans etc.

"But that first tangible sign will be inevitably physical works to build platforms, create a physical space between those two parts of the station and so the back end of the 2020s and into the early 30s will be the period for that process.

"A very wise person who I used to work with in past times, a politician, when I bumped into him recently, he said building a station is one thing but you need to get the trains to stop.

"So alongside it is getting the service patterns right. So we've got a station and then (make sure) train operating companies, or Great British Railway, as it will be by then, are stopping the trains there – that's the goal.

“Obviously it's a massive partnership effort, Network Rail, it's their infrastructure, working with SYMCA, the Department for Transport – we've got really good engagement actually from the guy at the Department of Transport, he's really excited.

“And obviously you'll have seen the map which we presented at the Rotherham Together Partnership event, we’re literally on the Northern Powerhouse Rail map.”

The chief executive role is complex and varied from children’s services through to pot holes (which he points out the council have a strong record on).

But it will be on the big projects that he is judged on and there are none bigger than Rotherham Gateway.