City leaders excited by ‘Birmingham’s golden decade’ from Games to homes
The leader of Birmingham City Council Cllr Ian Ward believes the development of 27 hectares of car parks and surplus land at the NEC’s campus in Solihull into an urban village will form a key part of a ‘golden decade’ for the city region.
Birmingham City Council owns the land, despite it being in Solihull, where 5,000 homes are planned. The transformational project is one of the UK’s largest brownfield residential development opportunities.
Cllr Ian Ward
Ward said: “This is an exciting moment for Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, as this transformational masterplan is published. Birmingham is attracting record levels of investment, and the NEC masterplan is testament to that.
“Over the coming years this project will provide much-needed new homes and high-quality jobs for people from our region and I encourage people to make their thoughts known through the public consultation.”
Birmingham has already benefitted from a decade of investment that has reshaped the city centre, with commercial developments from Grand Central to Arena Central, the creation of the tram network and a huge increase in high-end city centre residential schemes.
The pandemic has forced a pause on some, but not all, of this momentum, with returning workers and visitors able to see a noticeable change across the city’s streets and skyline.
“I believe that we are at the beginning of a Golden Decade for Birmingham, with the Commonwealth Games taking place next year, and the arrival of HS2,” added Ward.
“The NEC masterplan will connect the site with Arden Cross and the High Speed 2 Interchange, which together will transform this area, creating thousands of jobs and build thousands of homes.”
Cllr Ian Courts
His excitement is shared by Solihull Council’s leader, Cllr Ian Courts, who described the masterplan as “a bold and ambitious vision”.
He said: “By utilising brownfield land the plans provide additional housing to meet the growing local demand without sacrificing our precious greenbelt.
“The proposed developments will not only bring much needed new homes but will see thousands of new jobs created, and further enhance the already unmatched overall destination offer found here.”
The destination offer is enhanced by the connectivity promised by the planned HS2 network, which will include the Birmingham Interchange station next to the NEC campus.
“Located at the heart of the UK Central Solihull Hub Area, the NEC is already one of the best-connected sites in Europe,” added Courts.
“This ambitious masterplan looks to further capitalise on this position and maximise the economic benefits associated with the arrival of HS2 for both Solihull and the wider region.”
Read more on the NEC masterplan:
>> Plans for 5,000-home urban village revealed
Hugely-ambitious NEC Campus scheme includes 380,000 sq ft of commercial space and 150,000 sq ft of outdoor event>> ’15 years of trying to get it right – and now we have finally got it right’
NEC Group chief executive Paul Thandi explains why he is excited by ‘bold and ambitious’ urban village plans
