£150m fund to clean up Black Country sites for redevelopment

The hope is that the cash will help free up sites for development where previously the high costs of getting them reading for building work made projects too expensive or impractical.

The Black Country's long industrial heritage has left it with a large number of so-called 'brownfield' sites, often heavily polluted with chemicals and heavy metals. Sites such as the Wolverhampton Science Park and the i54, now home to Jaguar Land Rover's engine plant, had to undergo millions of pounds worth of clean-up work over several years before redevelopment could start.

At a launch event at The Hawthorns ground, the Black Country Land and Property Investment Fund was launched to an invited audience of businesses, landowners and developers by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The Black Country LEP is the body made up of council bosses and business leaders with the job of attracting new development and jobs to the area.

The £150m fund has been earmarked for the Black Country to invest in projects which support the re-use of brownfield land and buildings and the delivery of supporting infrastructure – such as improved road links, electricity supply and broadband – within the Black Country.

Tom Westley, a Black Country LEP board member, said: “I am delighted to announce the Black Country Land and Property Investment Fund. The fund will enable investment to secure new housing, industrial and commercial development and is important part in our transformational journey in the Black Country building new homes for our residents as well as developing sites identified to support our world-class manufacturing sector.”

The funding has been made available by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as one of a range of publicly operated funds designed to support economic development across the Black Country.

The LPIF is designed to support the delivery of key projects where the ordinary property market has already failed, by removing some of the risks for private sector investors.

It aims to help tackle problems such as adverse ground conditions – often due to long term industrial pollution - poor infrastructure, abnormal costs of cleaning the sites so they can be developed, and gap funding to bridge shortfalls that might affect the viability of schemes.

The fund is available to landowners/developers with an appropriate legal interest in the site.

The LEP says priority will be given to projects based upon strategic importance, value for money and deliverability.

The fund is currently open for applications for funding awards from January 2018 onwards, with £53 million available up to 20/21 and a further £97million earmarked to the Black Country for the following six years.