Delegates from local authorities and public sector organisations spent four days in the South of France last week rubbing shoulders with movers and shakers in the international property world.
They travelled to the MIPIM conference in Cannes, billed as the ‘World’s Property Market’, which they said was vital for boosting regeneration in the county.
The South East England Development Agency, Medway Council and investment promotion agency Locate in Kent, which is funded by KCC, Medway and Seeda, sent delegates to the conference.
The conference is an annual networking event for property developers and others involved in large-scale development schemes.
It brought together delegates and exhibitors from all over world, including America, Asia, Europe, South America and former Soviet states such as the Ukraine.
Nearly 30,000 people attended, prompting one attendee from Kent to comment: “People were nearly falling over each other.”
The event included talks, seminars and awards, as well as opportunities for delegates to make business contacts.
Seeda sent 15 people to MIPIM, including chairman Jim Braithwaite and chief executive Pam Alexander.
A spokesman said it was too soon to say how much the event had cost, although last year Seeda spent more than £40,000 sending a delegation of 20 people to the conference.
Kent County Council deputy leader Alex King and official Adam Wilkinson joined a delegation from Locate in Kent, which included its chairman Sir Brandon Gough and chief executive Paul Wookey.
Medway Council sent three people: Brian Weddell, head of Medway Renaissance, Rochester Riverside project manager Sarah Beck and director of regeneration, community and culture Robin Cooper.
Medway confirmed the trip cost £6,500, two-thirds of which was the cost of passes for the event.
Mark Wallace, campaign director for the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said he did not think any residents had seen the benefits of previous visits to the conference.
Mr Wallace said: “As far as anyone can tell it’s a very expensive thing, just a quick look around its website shows beautiful people being served champagne by beautiful waitresses in the south of France sun.
“What people want is for them to stay at home and to have schools that can educate, police on the streets and bins collected on time, rather than seeing them going on jollies to the South of France.”
Last year’s event was described by Property Week editor Clare Barrett as “basically a four-day party with loads of champagne and lobster”.
Cllr King defended MIPIM, saying it was the best opportunity to promote the county as “a location for key international decision-makers”.
He said: “The world of investment promotion is highly competitive and there are over 28,000 delegates attending MIPIM this year – up from 26,000 from last year.
“All major players from the UK public and private sector are represented and it is vital that we ensure that the Kent message is conveyed in a way which can attract the high level business investment that we need.”
Lee Amor, Seeda’s executive director of development and infrastructure, added: “MIPIM is the perfect place to showcase our projects in the context of the overall promotion of the South East.”
Mr Weddell defended Medway’s involvement in MIPIM, saying it was not an event they could afford to miss.
He said: “This is an important opportunity to connect with key decision makers from the world’s biggest investment companies.
“Last year’s MIPIM was good news. It helped to advance our partnership with St Modwen Properties – a partnership which is expected to generate more than a £1billion of private sector investment over the next ten years.”
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