• Home
• News
• Sport
• Entertainment
• Comment
• Property
• Property News
• Commercial Property

• Jobs
• Motors
• Motoring
• Family Notices
• Dating
• Free Ads
• Archive Search
• Local Directory
• Business Bid

• Horoscopes
• Competitions
• TV Guide
• Vouchers
• Charities
• Local Links
• Buy Photos

Birmingham Business Park brings great borough benefits

I read with interest your article (“Birmingham Business Park Extension Rejected”, 1 August 2007), and believe it is important to add some context to the comments you make.
Our proposal to bring into use the land adjoining Birmingham Business Park was a result of four years’ very close collaboration with Solihull Council.  Indeed the Chief Planning Officer actually recommended our proposal for approval, accepting projections showing it will create 1,800 jobs for people in the local regeneration zone, which covers Chelmsley Wood.
In your article, Councillor Morgan suggests Birmingham Business Park employs ten people from Chelmsley Wood, and you claim we have an “appalling record at creating jobs for local people”.  In fact, Birmingham Business Park has had a hugely positive economic impact on the local area, attracting over 100 businesses and 5,000 jobs over the past 20 years.  Our research shows that 22 per cent of all the workers at Birmingham Business Park are residents from the Regeneration Zone.
Our expansion proposals include a comprehensive package of regeneration measures designed to break down barriers to employment for local people. A substantial investment in the Business Park and local area includes an Enterprise Hub to provide much needed business space for local entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses. In addition, our proposals include the provision of subsidised crèche places for local parents, improvements to public transport access to the Park, investment in the Council to provide posts designed to bridge the skills and education gap, and complimentary access to three on-site sports pitches. These amenities have been designed to meet the specific needs of the North of the borough, and it is disappointing that these will now be delayed.
Chelmsley Wood in particular has been the focus of much consideration in our proposals.  Chelmsley Wood Town Council responded to our plans by recognising the “strong economic dimension” to the proposal, bringing not only jobs and amenities, but “an improvement to the physical appearance and tidiness of the site”.  The Town Council raised no objections to the proposal.
Another concern you raise is over the level of traffic using the Park, but we have worked with both the Highways Agency and Highways Authority to accommodate new workers at the park without causing traffic problems.  We will create a new high-frequency bus link which will deliver up to 50 buses per hour to the park, taking cars off the road, and meeting the requirements of the Regeneration Zone framework.  Neither body has raised any objections to our proposals.
We have also taken into account in our plans the impact they will have on the environment.  Our proposal received no objections from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England or the Environment Agency.  The proposals do not encroach on the open countryside.  Instead they seek to integrate our business park with the Regeneration Zone, creating a modern and highly sustainable mix of uses and opportunities.
Goodman invests in areas such as Solihull for the long-term, and we are proud that our business parks across the UK have without a single exception benefited the communities that live nearby.  In our view, Birmingham Business Park’s future success is linked to the future growth and regeneration of the local area, and we are keen to work with the local community to help ensure the economic benefits are felt by all, including residents of Chelmsley Wood.

Richard Cutler
Director, Strategy and Planning, Goodman

• | More
• «Back
• «Home
• Contact the Editor about this story