Black country regeneration

Tag : black & green
Black Country Consortium, the Black Country's regeneration andgrowth champion, has announced, on behalf of its four localauthority partners, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell,that the area has been awarded government 'Growth Point' status.

This is a major endorsement bringing significant benefits,including investment to help accelerate the delivery of new,quality housing, regenerated communities and improved transportsystems. These in turn will attract private sector business andinvestment to the Black Country.

Working in partnership with Government, through the nationalregeneration agency English Partnerships, the Growth Pointsprogramme will help the Black Country partners to hasten thedelivery of new homes and quality environments by assisting withland assembly, relocations and remediation to create sustainabledevelopment areas.

Growth Point status also allows for investment in infrastructure,particularly 'green infrastructure' which will enhance the qualityof the residential areas. Combined, these will bring a muchimproved quality of life to local people and offer developers,investors and new business a highly attractive incentive to come tothe Black Country.

Key drivers for growth include: an increase of 32,850 homes overthe next eight year, 55% more than the minimum currently required;90% of new housing to be built on brownfield land; and formeremployment land to be restructured to allow for the creation ofresidential areas, largely along the rail and metro routes.