Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation

Last updated

Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation
Formation1992
Dissolved1998
Headquarters Birmingham
Chair
Sir Reginald Eyre
Key people
Alan Osborne
Jim Beeston

The Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation was established in 1992 to develop 9.5 square kilometres of land in the East of Birmingham. [1]

Contents

History

Pre-designation

By the 1980s, the area, which was loosely defined as Nechells, consisted of run down housing, derelict wasteland and former industries. It was showing multiple signs of inner city decay and housed around 13,000 people. [1] Proposals to develop the area were first launched in 1987 by Birmingham City Council. The area was not designated as a central government development corporation, however, the government allowed a local public-private partnership to develop plans through a relaxed planning regime through designation as a Simplified Planning Zone. A development agency, named Birmingham Heartlands Ltd., was set up in 1988. 35% was owned by Birmingham City Council whilst the remaining 65% was owned mainly by construction companies. The Chamber of Commerce was given one share and the right to vote on company decisions. Birmingham City Council provided to councillors to be board members whilst the other members were from three local development companies and two nationally based development companies. These nationally based development companies were Tarmac and Wimpey. [2]

In 1988, the development agency adopted a development strategy which focussed upon economic development, the improvement of housing and the improvement of the environment. The Heartlands area was broken up into project areas. Government Estate Action funding was used to improve housing and to provide a mixture of tenures in the area which had been dominated mainly by council housing. The funding was provided in the project areas that had been specifically designated to be focussed upon housing. Areas closer to the city centre were given commercial designations. To prevent conflicts with city centre uses, the commercial areas in the Heartlands were targeted at a specific market. Aston Science Park, which had opened in 1983, [3] was further developed and close to the science park, the Aston Waterlinks village was constructed. This was built using £6.2 million of government City Grant. [2] The business village, located alongside the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, was constructed by Waterlinks plc, a company set up by four of the five board members, to provide jobs for 750 people. It cost a total of £28 million. [4]

When the government launched the City Challenge Partnership scheme as a consolidated inner city funding regime, Birmingham Heartlands Ltd. entered the competition, however, failed to win. This led to a radical organisational change. The public-private partnership moved power to the government. In May 1992, the government redesignated it a Development Corporation for a five-year period. [2] The Development Corporation came into being on 1 July 1992. [5]

Development Corporation

Following the redesignation of the area, the Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation bought out Heartlands company interests and took over nominations to the board, as well as the direction of strategy. This was made possible by the provision of £50 million by the government and by further grants from the European Regional Development Fund. [1] This was seen as the former company trying to prevent the partnership halting its work because of problems with the private sector. [2]

Heartlands was designated an Assisted Area status, allowing the area to be granted funds by the Department of Trade and Industry. The funds were used in the construction of the Heartlands spine road on the A47, which was completed in 1997. [2] Alongside the Grand Union Canal, 0.4 square kilometres of land was reclaimed to construct Bordesley urban village, consisting of over 1,000 homes, a school and numerous community facilities. It was thought to be the largest urban village of its kind in the country. [6] Other developments include the development of the Fort Shopping Centre near Fort Dunlop and reclamation of the 'Star' site, which was formerly occupied by the Nechells Power Station, by the M6 motorway and A38. The 140,000 square metre site was redeveloped to create the Star City retail development with the help of a £6.8 million government grant. [1]

During its lifetime, 3,400,000 square feet (320,000 m2) of non-housing development and 802 housing units were built. Around 4,656 new jobs were created and some £211m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 341 acres (1.38 km2) of derelict land was reclaimed and 30 miles (48 km) of new road and footpaths put in place. [7] The chairman was Sir Reginald Eyre and the Chief executive was Alan Osborne and, subsequently, Jim Beeston. It was dissolved in 1998. [8]

Related Research Articles

New Urbanism Urban design movement promoting environmentally friendly habits

New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighborhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually influenced many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use strategies. New urbanism attempts to address the ills associated with urban sprawl and post-Second World War suburban development.

Public housing Residential properties owned by a government

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local.

Urban renewal Land redevelopment in cities

Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal is the clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities to clear out slums and create opportunities for higher class housing, businesses, and more. A primary purpose of urban renewal is to restore economic viability to a given area by attracting external private and public investment and by encouraging business start-ups and survival.

Centenary Square

Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of Broad Street in Birmingham, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves before it was purchased by the council in the 1920s for the creation of a grand civic centre scheme to include museums, council offices, cathedral and opera house. The scheme was abandoned after the arrival of World War II with only the Hall of Memory and half of the planned Baskerville House complete. After the war the scheme was revived in a simpler form however the council never managed to implement the design.

London Docklands Development Corporation

The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its seventeen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of 8.5 square miles (22 km2) in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark. LDDC helped to create Canary Wharf, Surrey Quays shopping centre, London City Airport, ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London Arena and the Docklands Light Railway, bringing more than 120,000 new jobs to the Docklands and making the area highly sought after for housing. Although initially fiercely resisted by local councils and residents, today it is generally regarded as having been a success and is now used as an exemplar of large-scale regeneration, although tensions between older and more recent residents remain.

Brindleyplace

Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street around which it is built. It was developed by the Argent Group from 1993 onwards. In addition to shops, bars and restaurants, Brindleyplace is home to the National Sea Life Centre, Royal Bank of Scotland, Orion Media, Ikon Gallery of art and the Crescent Theatre. The site covers 17 acres (69,000 

Duddeston is an inner-city area of the Nechells ward of central Birmingham, England. It was part of the Birmingham Duddeston constituency until that ceased to exist in 1950.

Tyburn, West Midlands Human settlement in England

Tyburn is a ward in Birmingham, England formerly known as Kingsbury.

Big City Plan

The Big City Plan is a major development plan for the city centre of Birmingham, England.

Jewellery Quarter Human settlement in England

The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of around 19,000 people in a 1.07-square-kilometre (264-acre) area.

Nechells Human settlement in England

Nechells is a district ward in central Birmingham, England, whose population in 2011 was 33,957. It is also a ward within the formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government ward includes areas, for example parts of Birmingham city centre, which are not part of the historic district of Nechells as such, now often referred to in policy documents as "North Nechells, Bloomsbury and Duddeston".

Star City, Birmingham

Star City is a family leisure and entertainment complex in Nechells, Birmingham, England. It is located in the north east of the city very close to Junction 6 of the M6 motorway, and Aston railway station.

Teesside Development Corporation

The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former county of Cleveland in North East England.

The water and sanitation sector in Peru has made important advances in the last two decades, including the increase of water coverage from 30% to 85% between 1980 and 2010. Sanitation coverage has also increased from 9% to 37% from 1985 to 2010 in rural areas. Advances have also been achieved concerning the disinfection of drinking water and in sewage treatment. Nevertheless, many challenges remain, such as:

Water supply and sanitation in India Drinking water supply and sanitation in India continue to be inadequate

The water supply and sanitation in India has increased greatly from 1980 to present. Still, many people lack access to clean water, toilets, and sewage infrastructure. Various government programs at national, state, and community level have brought rapid improvements in sanitation and the drinking water supply. These various programs are ongoing.

Colmore Row

Colmore Row is a street in Birmingham City Centre in the centre of Birmingham, England, running from Victoria Square to just beyond Snow Hill station. It is traditionally the city's most prestigious business address.

Birmingham city centre, also known as Central Birmingham and often known locally as town, is the central business district of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is now defined as being the area within the Middle Ring Road. The city centre is undergoing massive redevelopment with the Big City Plan, which means there are now nine emerging districts and the city centre is approximately five times bigger.

Water supply and sanitation in Mozambique

Water supply and sanitation in Mozambique is characterized by low levels of access to an at least basic water source, low levels of access to at least basic sanitation and mostly poor service quality. In 2007 the government has defined a strategy for water supply and sanitation in rural areas, where 62% of the population lives. In urban areas, water is supplied by informal small-scale providers and by formal providers.

Non-profit housing developers build affordable housing for individuals under-served by the private market. The non-profit housing sector is composed of community development corporations (CDC) and national and regional non-profit housing organizations whose mission is to provide for the needy, the elderly, working households, and others that the private housing market does not adequately serve. Of the total 4.6 million units in the social housing sector, non-profit developers have produced approximately 1.547 million units, or roughly one-third of the total stock. Since non-profit developers seldom have the financial resources or access to capital that for-profit entities do, they often use multiple layers of financing, usually from a variety of sources for both development and operation of these affordable housing units.

Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 United States law

The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, Pub.L. 90–448, 82 Stat. 476, enacted August 1, 1968, was passed during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration. The act came on the heels of major riots across cities throughout the U.S. in 1967, the assassination of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, and the publication of the report of the Kerner Commission, which recommended major expansions in public funding and support of urban areas. President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to the legislation as one of the most significant laws ever passed in the U.S., due to its scale and ambition. The act's declared intention was constructing or rehabilitating 26 million housing units, 6 million of these for low- and moderate-income families, over the next 10 years.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Michael Pacione (1999). Applied Geography: Principles and Practice . Routledge. pp.  317–8. ISBN   0-415-18268-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Peter Newman; Andy Thornley (1996). Urban Planning in Europe: International Competition, National Systems & Planning Projects . Routledge. pp.  132–3. ISBN   0-415-11178-1.
  3. ↑ Royce Logan Turner (1995). The British Economy in Transition: From the Old to the New? . Routledge. p.  206. ISBN   0-415-11114-5.
  4. ↑ David Adams (1994). Urban Planning and the Development Process. Routledge. p. 147. ISBN   1-85728-021-0.
  5. ↑ Michael Heseltine (12 September 2000). "The Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation (Planning Functions) Order 1992". Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  6. ↑ David Chapman (1996). Creating Neighbourhoods and Places in the Built Environment. Taylor & Francis. p. 213. ISBN   0-419-20930-1.
  7. ↑ National Audit Office report dated 27 February 2002.
  8. ↑ "The Urban Development Corporations in England (Dissolution) Order 1998". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.