£5m regeneration plan for Cradley Heath
A £5 million investment to bring regeneration to part of Cradley Heath has been welcomed as a much-needed boost to the town.
The Woods Lane site, near to Cradley Heath railway station, is one of a number of projects across the Black Country that will get a big cut of the multi-million-pound fund from the Government.
Announced yesterday by the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, work at the site will create a new road junction so traffic can get onto development land, which in turn could see around 247 homes built. Work there is expected to start in 2016.
Sandwell Council's strategic housing boss Councillor Ian Jones is thankful for the money.
He said: "I welcome the investment, and look forward to the work coming to fruition.
"The housing is needed in the area, there's a lack of affordable homes in Cradley Heath.
"So I am pleased that an allocation of money has been dedicated to the Woods Lane project."
The scheme is expected to pull in another £30m of funding from the private sector, likely from a major housebuilding or property development company, to enable the regeneration of 9.43 hectares of poor quality former industrial land.
It will also help to clean up around 600 yards of the River Stour Corridor.
Meanwhile in West Bromwich, small businesses will be given a leg up in their competition with larger firms that have big research and development budgets.
Part of the Local Enterprise Partnership funding will be provided to help create a new 'fab lab' in the town.
The idea is that the lab will give companies access to high-tech manufacturing equipment, to create new products and prototypes, although little information has so far been revealed about the project.
