‘UK’s largest’ MDC to drive £10bn West Midlands regeneration

In a bid to push through more than £10bn in building projects in the West Midlands, a regeneration body will be granted powers over planning and infrastructure.

The mayoral development corporation for East Birmingham will instantly become the largest in the country. In addition it will arguably be the most significant MDC launched in the UK since the London Legacy Development Corporation was set up to redevelop large parts of East London following the 2012 Olympic Games.

According to the West Midlands Combined Authority, the new body will assume a range of powers. These include land acquisition, planning, business tax incentives and infrastructure funding. In addition, there are plans to use those levers to deliver half-a-dozen high profile regeneration projects.

Landmark

The 1,040-acre zone covered by the MDC includes the city’s £4bn knowledge quarter scheme. This is alongside the landmark sports quarter in Bordesley Green and the site of the HS2 terminus currently under construction at Curzon Street.

A new creative quarter in Digbeth, the city’s Central Heart regeneration zone and the £2bn Smithfield regeneration are also within the MDC’s remit.

The MDC model has previously been used in several large-scale regeneration programmes across the country, including at Old Oak Common for the HS2 project. 

Areas of east Birmingham face some of the most stubborn social challenges of any city in the country. More than 200,000 people are classified as being long-term unemployed according to statistics produced by the Birmingham City Council last year.

Launching the body at UKREiiF this morning West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, said the body would help deliver 20,000 homes and upwards of 50,000 jobs in East Birmingham.

'Once in a lifetime'

Parker described the MDC as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to end “deep-rooted deprivation” and drive regeneration in East Birmingham.

“It will be a magnet for investment, de-risking major projects while providing the stability and continuity needed for investor confidence,” he said.

“It will also cut through red tape, so we waste no time getting spades in the ground on these hugely significant regeneration schemes. ”

Some of those schemes are not yet at planning stages, such as the Birmingham City-backed sports quarter, while others are in more advanced stages of construction.

The WMCA says the new body will help developers ‘fast track’ their schemes, which will benefit from dealing with the MDC as a single point of contact for planning, land assembly and public funding.

The borders of the MDC were agreed by the combined authority in March, with £3m of authority funds ring-fenced for setting up the organisation.

Joanne Roney, managing director of Birmingham City Council, said the city was set to become one of the most attractive and competitive city centres in the country.

“The MDC will enable and accelerate developments in the heart of the city and in East Birmingham that will transform lives, creating tens of thousands of jobs, thousands of homes and adding billions to the local economy,” she said.

West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker described the MDC as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to end “deep-rooted deprivation” and drive regeneration in East Birmingham. He said:

“It will be a magnet for investment, de-risking major projects while providing the stability and continuity needed for investor confidence,” he said.

“It will also cut through red tape, so we waste no time getting spades in the ground on these hugely significant regeneration schemes. ”