Greater Birmingham chamber backs combined authority move

GREATER Birmingham Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the move by seven local councils to push ahead with plans for a West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

The chamber said the statement of intent by the seven councils was an exciting move in the race to create a West Midland powerhouse.

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of GBCC, said: “We congratulate the seven authorities for working together quickly to put the statement of intent together. It is an exciting document and we look forward to working with the West Midlands Combined Authority to make their ambitions a reality.
 
“The private sector, which the chamber represents, can make a critical contribution and we look forward to ensuring our members’ views are imparted to the WMCA.”  
 
He said the chamber was happy to endorse the WMCA’s view that economic markets and the businesses serving them should extend beyond political boundaries, for the benefit of the wider area.

“It’s encouraging to know that the WMCA’s statement of intent emphasises that its proposals can ‘strengthen our relationship and focus on the issues that really matter to the people and businesses in the West Midlands’,” added Faulkner.
 
“We agree that the establishment of the combined authority provides an opportunity to drive forward a series of joint objectives in support of economic growth and progressive public sector reform.”
 
He said the transport agenda was especially important and a combined authority would be capable of building on the work already being done at New Street Station, together with the expansion of Curzon Eastside and the development of Birmingham’s new HS2 station, together with the UK Central interchange at Bickenhill.
 
Extending the Midland Metro tram network, upgrading Birmingham Airport and the M42 would all work towards the combined authority creating a transport network that matched the new authority’s aim to match the best in Europe, he added.