Advantage West Midlands is to invest more than £20 million buying a series of sites across East Birmingham into public ownership and preparing them for new developments.
The regional development agency has bought the vacant Corus site in Wharfdale Road, through the East Birmingham and North Solihull Regeneration Zone.
The site of the former steel works in Tyseley has been empty since last year and the acquisition is the first in a series of proposed purchases by the North Solihull Regeneration Zone across Nechells, Small Heath and Tyseley
Each of the sites will undergo remediation and, in some cases, put together with other sites to make them more attractive to the commercial market and Mark Pearce, corporate director for economic regeneration with Advantage West Midlands said: “We know from talking to the private sector that the limited availability of Midlands quality, accessible and clean employment land of sufficient size is a barrier to economic growth in this part of the city.
“Potential investors into the communities that need investment the most are finding it increasingly difficult to find the right premises and are having to look elsewhere,” said Mr Pearce.
Two ways to improve local authority finances
The NAO has concluded insufficient action has been taken to address weaknesses in council finances. Teams from TLT LLP consider what councils should do next.
