West Bromwich 'ghost town' fear

The centre of West Bromwich could become a ghost town when major businesses and public services move out of High Street, it was feared today.

Sandwell Council's dream of creating a thriving civic centre around historic buildings, including West Bromwich Town Hall, is crumbling with more and more plots of land set to become vacant.

Although the new £200 million new Tesco development is set to breathe life into the eastern side of the town, large parts of the High Street will be left empty when West Bromwich Building Society and Sandwell College's campus move to new buildings.

Primary Care Trust offices at Kingston House could also close and Sandwell Council plans to move workers out of two town centre tower blocks, Control House and Shafetsbury House, as its workforce diminishes.

West Bromwich Magistrates Court is also set to be decommissioned.

Sandwell Council bosses will this week examine a 55-page draft planning and design brief on plans for a West Bromwich Civic Quarter, around High Street, Dartmouth Street, Lodge Road, Edward Street and Lombard Street West.

It outlines plans for a "high quality, office-led mixed use development" in the area.

However, the authority's jobs and economy boss, Councillor Ian Jones, admitted that at the moment the plan is little more than a pipe dream.

He said: "We are currently in limbo. This is an aspirational document, because at the moment we don't know what is going to happen.

"These major sites, including the building society offices, the college and the courts will be vacated, but as they do not belong to us we are limited in what we can do about it.

"We have had ambitious plans in the past, including plans to expand the library and include an archives department but since the cuts have been made, all these opportunities are drying up.

"I have major concerns that by 2012 there will be swathes of vacant buildings and land around West Bromwich High Street. If the council is forced to downsize its workforce by hundreds, if not thousands, that will exacerbate the problem."

The £200 million Tesco development coming in two phases, will bring a 144,236 sq ft Tesco store and petrol station with an additional 222,812 sq ft of other retail and leisure space.

The second phase will see a further 164,687 sq ft of shopping facilities built.

There will also be a 70-bedroom hotel, additional car parking and a new northern ringway.

As part of the scheme a new £10 million headquarters for West Midlands Police in Sandwell is also being built on land between Oak Lane and Moor Street.