Birmingham’s Big City Plan ‘Stage 2’ is unveiled
BIRMINGHAM’S stalled ‘Big City Plan’ was brought back to life amid claims that it now has a much more realistic and deliverable vision than the one revealed two years ago.
City council leader Mike Whitby claimed 50,000 jobs would be created as a result, and developers and business leaders praised the plan for being ‘honest and authentic’.
The original master plan for the city centre was the brainchild of former council regeneration boss Clive Dutton – who departed last year – and was based on a ‘visioning study’ conducted by regeneration guru Professor Michael Parkinson.
But the plan became a victim of the recession as developers stepped back from planned projects in Birmingham’s Eastside and elsewhere. Moves to relocate the Wholsale Market to make way for a new development to rival the Bullring in scale also became mired in the downturn.
The plan was also criticised in some quarters for being too vague, and developers called for more detail and clarity on the city’s vision for the next 20 years – and how it would be delivered and financed.
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Cllr Whitby promised: “Our Big City Plan will provide a clear blueprint for investors, businesses and residents alike – with the detail, the grain and the soul, which I believe will inspire imaginations across the world – and capture billions of extra investment and value for our local economy.
“Against a challenging backdrop we know delivery is more important than ever, and our plan acknowledges the importance of the private sector working more closely than ever before with the public sector, whilst embracing the need for exciting new funding mechanisms like Accelerated Development Zones.
“Now, we are taking the plan to the next level – where we transform vision into delivery, and create the framework for 50,000 new jobs in Birmingham’s City Centre. We are making a bold statement, prioritising the areas and projects which can and will be transformed despite the financial challenges the UK faces.”
Gary Cardin, head of Drivers Jonas Deloitte’s Birmingham office, said: “A lot of hard work has been put into this, turning what was a strategic document into a plan-style that the development industry will understand.
“All credit to the Big City Plan Team for concentrating more about creating development vehicles. The document is now much less about big words and fluffy ideas, more about how are we going to engage: a clear vision for developing.”
At a launch today, guests were told the plan addresses how future economic growth can be achieved by expanding the city’s core area by more than 25%.
The plan in summary:
- 1.5m sq metres of new office, retail, leisure and cultural floorspace
- 50,000 new jobs
- £2.1 billion growth in the local economy per annum
- Five key areas of transformation based around New Street Station, Westside, the Snow Hill District, Eastern Core Expansion and The Southern Gateway
- 65,000 sq metres of new and improved public spaces and 28,000 metres of enhanced walking and cycling routes
- Over 5,000 new homes
The masterplan will be supported by statutory planning tools, utilising the Core Strategy and supplementary planning documents, to enable the change of land use and to assist development activities.
- To download the complete Big City Plan, click here
- Big City Plan website: click here
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