Make local people proud to say, “I live in Longbridge”.
1.0 The sudden closure of the MG Rover plant at Longbridge in April 2005 had a major impact on the local and regional economy and on the communities in South Birmingham and North Bromsgrove. This Area Action Plan has been prepared to secure the comprehensive regeneration of the area. It sets out a series of proposals through which it is intended to create a highly sustainable and accessible new community offering jobs, homes and a new local centre as well as opportunities for recreation and leisure.
1.1 Our shared aim has been to develop an imaginative and deliverable AAP with strong support and involvement from key stakeholders and the local community. Birmingham City Council and Bromsgrove District Council have jointly prepared the Submission AAP with input from other partners including Worcestershire County Council, Advantage West Midlands and St. Modwen Properties PLC (the principal landowner). The approach to developing the AAP has been very much in the spirit of partnership, which will be carried forward through to the implementation and delivery of the plan.
1.2 The AAP is a Development Plan Document (DPD) that forms part of both Birmingham and Bromsgrove’s Local Development Frameworks. The relationship of the AAP to other plans and strategies including Regional Spatial Strategy, the Birmingham Unitary Development Plan and Bromsgrove District Local Plan is explained in Appendix 1.
1.3 The AAP has also been developed with a strong focus upon spatial planning. This has involved going beyond the traditional boundaries of land use planning to pull together proposals which draw from a number of policy areas to support sustainable development. It also means that the plan, its proposals and impact need to be considered in light of not only the immediate area but also the wider communities and infrastructure of South Birmingham and North Bromsgrove.
1.4 The AAP in its entirety consists of text, plans, appendices, as well as referenced baseline and technical material. It is both a policy and implementation tool, which includes information on development phasing, delivery organisations and funding opportunities. Once adopted the plan will cover the period 2008-2023.
1.5 The regeneration challenge of Longbridge is simply immense:
1.6 The Longbridge AAP area straddles the boundary between Birmingham and Bromsgrove. Extending over 195 ha it includes the former MG Rover plant, Cofton Park, the Austin Sports and Social Club and its playing fields as well as several other smaller sites. The total AAP Plan area is outlined in Plan 1. Although the majority of the former MG Rover site is now vacant, Nanjing Automotive Corporation occupy part of the site and in June 2007 the first phase of the Technology Park opened.
1.7 The River Rea traverses the AAP area, parts of which are designated as a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation and part of the Millennium Cycle Route. The river is also a key wildlife corridor and forms part of Birmingham’s strategic open space network. The River Arrow also crosses part of the southern section of the AAP area.
1.8 The A38 Bristol Road South runs through the AAP area and is one of Birmingham’s principal arterial and key strategic highway routes, linking the city centre (7 miles to the north) to Junction 4 of the M5 (4 miles to the south west). Several main bus routes and Longbridge rail station also serve the area. The rail line forms part of the main Midlands-South West line, and is an important cross-city commuter route.
1.9 The Longbridge AAP area is also situated within the A38 Central Technology Belt (CTB), which stretches from Malvern in the South to Aston University within the City Centre in the North. The overall aim of the CTB is to foster the development of high technology and high growth businesses.
1.10 Within the wider South Birmingham area, Longbridge forms part of a portfolio of high profile major regeneration sites, which includes, the re-development of Frankley and Northfield centres, the largescale transformation of the Egg Hill housing estate, and the development of a major new mixed-use development around Selly Oak Centre, including Europe’s largest new hospital by the University Hospital Trust.
1.11 The AAP area is located within a highly attractive edge of city location bordered with countryside towards the south and the nearby Lickey Hills. The area immediately to the north and west of the site is predominately residential, but also includes significant areas of open space (see Plan 2: Context Plan).
1.12 An analysis of population and neighbourhood statistics, together with feedback raised during consultation, shows that the area around the AAP site faces a number of significant skills, economic, crime, health and local service issues which need to be addressed or considered in drawing up the AAP:
Plan 1 Longbridge AAP Plan Area
Plan 2 Context Plan
1.13 The size of the development opportunity at Longbridge and the role it has to play in helping address strategic and regional needs is significant. The proposals, therefore, have been drawn up and considered within a wider spatial context than the immediate area. The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), Regional Economic Strategy (RES) and Local Transport Plans provided solid policy foundations.
1.14 In seeking the comprehensive redevelopment and regeneration of Longbridge our driving ambition has been to address the Government’s overriding planning goal (set out in Planning Policy Statement 1 - PPS1) of delivering sustainable development and addressing climate change. The overall strategy focuses upon delivering a mixed-use employment led self-sufficient community in which the need to travel has been minimised.
1.15 Although not on the scale of the Government’s Eco Towns, the AAP does share the same higher sustainability standards and values to create an urban eco-centre delivering 10,000 jobs, a minimum of 1450 new houses, new education facilities, retailing, leisure, community and recreation uses all underpinned by quality public transport facilities and infrastructure.
1.16 Other key spatial drivers behind the plan include the important need to create new job opportunities, attract financial investment and help diversify the local and regional economy. The plan seeks to support the growth and development of the A38 Central Technology Corridor (a regional designation that seeks to capture inward investment in the higher technology business and innovation sectors), through the identification of a Regional Investment Site (RIS) of 25 ha. This site provides a considerable opportunity to attract a range of high value jobs and scope to contribute to improving graduate retention rates.
1.17 The AAP also supports other aims of the RES including improving the quality of and access to training and educational opportunities and the provision of a wide range of accessible employment opportunities. Businesses at Longbridge will also benefit from regionally delivered skills programmes and the regional business brokerage service to enable them to improve their performance by developing their leadership and management capacity and developing their business processes and effectiveness.
1.18 With regard to housing demand, the AAP can make a significant contribution to help meet RSS housing targets, particularly on brownfield land; as well as addressing the emerging City Region aim of delivering real population and housing growth. The AAP seeks to deliver a minimum of 1450 new dwellings, 35% of which will meet the Government’s affordability criteria.
1.19 In relation to regional transport needs, the AAP proposes an ambitious set of improvements to the public transport ‘offer’ for both bus and rail including enhanced facilities and better connected and more frequent services. The AAP also allocates a site for a Strategic Park and Ride facility serving the Birmingham to Redditch rail corridor, as well as a new high quality bus corridor to improve accessibility to and from Frankley.
1.20 Another key aspect of the Spatial Strategy ensures that the proposed development sits within and has good connectivity to neighbouring areas. The opening up of the River Rea and River Arrow presents the opportunity to create ‘green corridors’ through the development establishing new walkways, cycle ways, parks and open spaces which allow easy movement throughout the area. Both river corridors will be designed to minimise and manage flood risk, as well as contribute towards sustainable drainage and maximise the opportunity for ecology and habitat creation.
1.21 A final essential component of the Spatial Strategy is centred upon creating a real heart and focus for the new development. This is one of the overriding wishes of the local community. This will be done through the creation of a local centre which will provide a major new educational facility, a range of new retail outlets, a mix of commercial, leisure, cultural and community uses and a new public transport interchange. Not only will this help the overall development to provide for its own needs and help support self sufficiency, it will also provide for the needs of a wider catchment thereby offering improved choice.
1.22 The above Spatial Strategy should enable Longbridge to become a prime location for investment attractive to international, national and regional investors as well as a place that provides for the needs of local people, businesses and visitors. It will require a 15-year regeneration programme at an estimated development cost of over £700 million and the joint working of landowners, the local councils, Regional Development Agency, CTB, the local community and other key stakeholders to achieve this ambitious but deliverable strategy.
1.23 The AAP is the result of wide-ranging public participation with local residents, community organisations and other stakeholders. This has helped create a high degree of consensus on the final strategy adopted.
1.24 The preparation of the AAP commenced in April 2006 with extensive consultation to find out which issues local people would like to see addressed and what options for development they would like to be considered. Following this stage, in October 2006, consultation took place on the draft vision and objectives for the AAP and four alternative spatial options for development. These options were:
1.25 Overall consultation revealed that Options Two and Three (together with variations of them) were the most popular. This led to the development of the Preferred Option for Longbridge, which was based upon a modification of Option 2 (mixed-use employment led) but incorporating more housing and retailing than originally proposed. The Longbridge Area Action Plan Preferred Options Report was published for consultation in February 2007. This Preferred Option has now been worked up into a detailed set of proposals and these are set out in this Submission Document.
1.26 Throughout this process the aim has been to reach as many people as possible and ensure that they have a real opportunity to comment and influence the proposals in the emerging AAP. Community consultation has strongly influenced significant sections of the plan and a number of key proposals. These include for example:
1.27 During the course of the AAP’s development over 25,000 residents, businesses and other stakeholders have been informed of the plan and a wide variety of community engagement techniques used to ensure that as many people and organisations as possible could make their views known. A conscious Longbridge area action plan 7 attempt has also been made to gather the views of people who might normally feel excluded or do not normally get involved in these types of consultation exercises.
1.28 The methods used during the consultation phases have included a telephone survey, newsletters, telephone help line, website, exhibitions, public meetings, the Longbridge Future Forum (a dedicated Focus Group of representative local people set up to explore options and issues in detail) and an Equalities Impact Needs Assessment Group. Details of these consultation approaches are set out in the Pre-submission Consultation Statement, which accompanies this submission document.
1.29 An independent Sustainability Appraisal has also been prepared in order to ensure the AAP contributes to sustainable development. This appraisal also meets the requirements of the SEA Directive. A Scoping Report was issued for consultation in May 2006 and a draft SA was issued for consultation in February 2007 at the same time as the Preferred Options report. The final SA accompanies this Submission Document.
1.30 This document is also accompanied with a suite of baseline and technical studies, which provide a robust evidence base for the AAP. These are listed in Appendix 2. This submission document together with a full portfolio of supporting papers including the appraisals and reports detailed above are available on the following web sites:
www.birmingham.gov.uk/longbridgeaap
www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/longbridge
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