Countdown begins on £42m village scheme

09.03.11 – Express & Star

Demolition ahead of a long-awaited £42 million redevelopment in Smethwick will begin within months. The Brindley Village II scheme will see 193 homes, shops, roads and open spaces on land bordered by Lewisham Road and Mafeking Road.

Developers PXP West Midlands today revealed they have just three properties left to buy out of the 36 they need to clear the way for the scheme. While Sandwell Council has pledged it will use its powers to obtain compulsory purchase orders to aid assembling the site, it is hoped they can be avoided.

PxP West Midlands managing director Mark Stapleton said bulldozers would start on the 11-acre site later this year once the final properties are bought, 10 years after the development was first mooted.

"We've got three properties left to buy, which we're hoping to do by private treaty, and then demolition will start later in the year," he said.

Mr Stapleton said work on buying up properties, which began in February 2009, cost more than £8m.

He added though PxP West Midlands was a limited partnership between doomed regional development agency Advantage West Midlands and commercial property development company Langtree, funding would not be affected by AWM winding down.

"We have no funding from Advantage West Midlands we own 100 per cent of all our projects," he said. "Whatever happens to Advantage West Midlands, this is going ahead."

The project is being funded by PxP West Midlands and the Homes and Communities Agency, which has already invested £6.5m. Planning permission has already been secured.

Ward councillor Paramjit Randhawa welcomed plans at a meeting at Brasshouse Lane Community Centre.

"The area has been blighted for a very long time and this will bring much needed improvements for residents and businesses," she said.