Business park plan at former Sandwell school site
The site of a former school and training centre in Oldbury will be opened up to businesses in a bid to create up to 100 jobs.
Council bosses hope investors will be attracted by plans to turn Sandwell Council's Training and Development Centre in Popes Lane into a new industrial site.
Officers from the council's regeneration and economy team have submitted outline plans that will see the site transformed into a 205,000 sq ft industrial development.
Councillor Ian Jones, cabinet member for jobs and economy said: "We are trying to attract interested businesses into the borough to invest locally and support industry in the Black Country.
"We hope that this site, along with others, will attract developers and employers from advanced industries into the area."
The centre is less than two miles from junction two of the M5 motorway in Oldbury, which council bosses have said will make it an attractive site for future investors. "We know that there are manufacturers out there looking for a ready prepared site like this," said Councillor Jones. "This is the council investing in a site that is ideally located near to a major motorway in the heart of Britain that will connect them to other businesses in the north and south. We are putting our money where our mouth is."
Outline plans for the site also open the possibility for it to be turned into offices or used for green technologies including waste recycling and management.
The site of the former council building served as the Albright Secondary School from the 1930s, before being turned into a training centre following its closure in 1983.
In total, 150 council staff were based at the centre. Some were offered redundancy last year, with the remainder moving out earlier this year.
The plans are expected to be approved later this year.
Meanwhile a similar scheme in Kelvin Way, West Bromwich, could see the creation of a 160,000 sq ft development that is expected to attract more than 100 jobs, as companies involved in the burgeoning automotive and electrical trade are rumoured to want to move on site.
Councillor Jones added: "This development will be similar to the proposed development in Kelvin Way, which is expected to create more than 100 jobs, but this site in Popes Lane could be even bigger if the right employer chooses to develop the site. We are doing everything we can to attract new employers into the area."
A detailed plan of the site in West Bromwich is expected to be submitted by developers in the coming months.
