The Birmingham Area Investment Prospectuses

The Prospectus

The purpose of the Area Investment Prospectus (AIP) is to capture the key strategic development and investment opportunities around the city as well as outline Birmingham’s plans to improve the economic environment and infrastructure required to support the growth generated by these opportunities. The AIP brings together the visions of public and private partners into one overall framework, designed to continue the transformation of Birmingham, and enhance its place as a leading world city and a dynamic regional capital. Originally launched in 2007, with a second edition in 2009, a 2010 Update has now been launched which highlights many of the successes in developing these sites.

Birmingham's Growth Agenda

Birmingham has ambitious plans to grow and improve the quality of life of its population. We expect our population to grow by a further 100,000 in the next two decades. To accommodate this we are developing an integrated growth plan, which will create sustainable communities where people want to live, work, visit and invest. This will involve supporting economic development with new opportunities for growth and jobs; significantly increasing the supply of quality housing choice; improving infrastructure including transport, utilities, local services and amenities such as schools, health and social services and the leisure and culture offer. This will be achieved in the context of meeting the challenge of climate change and protecting and enhancing the environment and natural resources. The new developments will be created on the principles of ‘sustainable urban neighbourhoods’.

Recent Success

Since the launch of the second edition of the AIP there has been a number of notable successes, which are highlighted in the 2010 Update. These include a new retail development at the Fox and Goose, construction starting on site for the new £66m Bournville College in Longbridge, commencement of the redevelopment of Warwickshire County Circket Ground and new supermarket developments at the former Astra Training Centre and Brookfield Shopping Precinct. These developments along will create in the region of 700 jobs.

Worklessness

In order for Birmingham to achieve its potential we must proactively address the issue of worklessness. We are doing this by:

• Ensuring that jobs created through regeneration, area development and planning are captured and accessed by the local areas where high levels of worklessness exists.
• Maintaining and developing strategic links with partners, monitoring performance of interventions, implementing the partnership worklessness protocol and embedding effective working practices.
• Developing a corporate worklessness strategy and action plans to improve delivery of worklessness initiatives by being locally focused and able to respond to the changing needs of the individual communities.

We are already seeing the success of this strategy through our partnership work with JobCentre Plus and developers at the Fox and Goose and Brookfield Precinct sites, where jobs have been secured for long term unemployed people.

Expectations from Developers

As the City Council we have a commitment to local residents to encourage development that will bring real changes and long-term sustainable benefits to local people and the environment. We expect developers and investors to sign up to 5 key principles in delivering sustainable regeneration:

• Jobs for Local People
• Excellence in Design
• The Promotion of Sustainable Development and Innovative use of
• Renewable Energy Sources
• Consultation and Engagement
• Housing to meet Local and Strategic Requirements

Accelerating Development

As part of the Prospectus, we want to highlight a range of tools available to assist with the development of sites, where this is necessary. Every site is different and requires different market solutions. However, where specific conditions make it necessary we have tools to enable us to work with developers and other public sector agencies to solve problems and kick-start development. We offer a menu of measures at various stages of development, including:

• Site assembly
• Site investigation/reclamation
• Gap funding
• Development management

Where to find out more

The Planning and Regeneration Service is responsible for production and delivery of the Area Investment Prospectus, led by Waheed Nazir, Director of Regeneration.

Enquiries should be made to:

East – 0121 464 9835 sharon.freedman@birmingham.gov.uk

North West – 0121 464 7738 ghaz.hussain@birmingham.gov.uk

South – 0121 464 9835 peter.wright@birmingham.gov.uk

Press enquiries: 0121 303 3030

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