, Mayor of the West
Midlands, today (Tuesday 19 May) launched Britain's biggest and
most powerful Mayoral Development Corporation to significantly
speed up the £11bn regeneration of East Birmingham, one of the
country's most deprived areas.
The Birmingham East Mayoral Development Corporation (BEMDC) will
generate a multi-billion-pound boost for the local and regional
economy, positioning the West Midlands at the front of the UK's
charge for growth.
It will bring more than 50,000 jobs and 20,000 new homes to east
Birmingham, where in some areas child poverty exceeds 50% and
around 27% of adults have never worked – more than double the
national average.
By combining a range of powers including land acquisition,
planning, business tax incentives and infrastructure funding the
MDC will be able to cut through red tape, build investor
confidence and accelerate the injection of billions of private
and public sector investment into the area.
It is the most significant to be launched in the UK since the
London Legacy Development Corporation was set up to transform
large parts of East London following the 2012 Olympic Games.
Sport will also be at the heart of the BEMDC, which includes land
earmarked for the £3bn Birmingham Sports Quarter
and its showpiece 60,000 seat Powerhouse Stadium, served
by a new Metro tram route.
The MDC will cover an area the size of more than 600 football
pitches, and include some of the biggest regeneration projects in
the UK and Europe including:
The Mayor launched the MDC to investors and developers at the
UKREiiF real estate show in Leeds following a green light from
government.
The Mayor said: “This MDC is big, bold and ambitious, reflecting
Birmingham's position as the UK's second city.
“It will be a magnet for investment, de-risking major projects
while providing the stability and continuity needed for investor
confidence. It will also cut through red tape, so we waste no
time getting spades in the ground on these hugely significant
regeneration schemes.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to end the deep-rooted
deprivation that has blighted lives for too long in East
Birmingham and create places people and businesses are proud to
call home.
“The scale of this Corporation shows that Birmingham is back and
ready to lead the UK's return to growth.”
The Mayor and senior figures at Birmingham City Council have
spent months structuring the Corporation so it can unlock
large-scale regeneration, accelerate development, and attract
investment in a way that brings real and lasting change for local
communities.
Joanne Roney CBE, managing director of Birmingham City Council,
said: “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.
"Having the largest MDC in the country underlines the scale and
ambition of our plans to drive growth in the UK's second-largest
city economy. It positions our city as one of the most attractive
and competitive city centres in the UK - there has never been a
better time to invest in Birmingham.
“We will also make sure we deliver the greatest impact for our
residents by linking the economic outputs of the MDC directly
with deprived communities.”
East Birmingham continues to experience some of the worst
deprivation in the UK but the large-scale investment in and
around the heart of the city is expected to provide unprecedented
opportunities for jobs, homes and skills training for local
communities.
Collectively, the projects included in the BEMDC area are set to
transform surrounding neighbourhoods, improve transport
connections, and help raise living standards for tens of
thousands of local people.
Investors and developers will also benefit. By bringing planning,
land assembly, funding, and delivery into a single body,
supported by new transport and energy infrastructure, the
Corporation will be able to ‘fast-track' development and make it
easier for investors who will only need to engage with one
organisation instead of many.
