Andy Street lands deal with Severn Trent Water to buy major brownfield site
The West Midlands Combined Authority is kick-start development of 750 homes on a former sewage works following a deal with the Severn Trent water company and Sandwell Council.
The Combined Authority (WMCA) said it had bought half the 26 hectare site from Severn Trent’s development arm, MLPL, and would fund the remediation of it with co-owner Sandwell Council prior to development.
A proportion of the homes at the Friar Park site in Wednesbury would be built using modern construction methods, according to Sandwell council leader Yvonne Davies.
West Midlands metro mayor Andy Street said the deal was the biggest brownfield site “unlocked” so far by the WMCA, and represented a vindication of his “brownfield-first” approach to development.
He said: “This prominent site, one of the biggest in the Black Country, has sat derelict for more than 30 years with no developer taking it on.
“It cannot be right that our green belt is being targeted for new homes while major sites like this are left untouched year after year. The WMCA is embarking on a ‘brownfield first’ policy for this exact reason, and I am delighted that we have been able to strike this latest deal alongside Sandwell Council and Seven Trent.”
Under a housing deal with the government, WMCA local authorities need to see 215,000 homes built in their areas by 2031, with Sandwell alone targeting 13,420 by 2026.
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