Sector Focus In Brief
Birmingham City Council and Southside BID have revealed plans for the transformation of Hurst Street with a distinctive public square. The Hippodrome Square
project will include a 40ft traditional Chinese arch, to be installed on Ladywell Walk. Work on the project is due to
start next spring or summer 2020. Proposed improvements include new lighting to allow the square to be used for events, installation of trees to increase environmental and health benefits, and widened footpaths. Julia Robinson, manager of Southside BID, said: “This truly unique public space will create a cultural heart for Southside to further promote the area whilst celebrating and highlighting a huge range of local talent. “Not only will this be a great
opportunity to attract new visitors and tourists to the Southside district, it will also increase dwell time and provide an exciting new space for events, festivals and entertainment to take place and act as a magnet to drive footfall.” James Wong, chairman of the
Chinese Festival Committee and director of Chung Ying Group, said: “Hippodrome Square and the Chinese Arch have been in our plans for a long while, and we’re glad that work could be starting early next year. “This project will be a true
celebration of Chinese culture, and could become a landmark for the entire city.”
A further 150 affordable homes per year are set to be built in the Midlands, thanks to a partnership between Midland Heart housing association and new housing specialist Partner. The two companies have
agreed a memorandum of understanding to work together to source land, gain planning permission, and build the homes. The developments will include
affordable rented homes, as well as shared ownership properties, to help first time buyers get onto the property ladder, and could be built anywhere in the Midlands. The two organisations already
have a strong track record of working together, recently completing a new £8.5m joint development in Leicestershire. Midland Heart chief executive
Glenn Harris said: “This is an important new agreement that further cements our already very strong relationship with Partner. “As a social housing landlord, capitalising on the expertise and resources of an established and respected developer is crucial to helping us realise our ambition to build 3,000 new affordable homes by 2024.”
80 CHAMBERLINK September 2019
Property
Real estate firm wants PM to make business rates a priority
Real estate firm Colliers International – backed by the Chamber – has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to tackle business rates as a top priority. John Webber, head of business
rates at Colliers, said Mr Johnson needed to understand the negative impact the 2017 revaluation process had had on UK businesses. He said that some companies
had seen their business rates rise at unprecedented levels, while others, who should have seen their rates bills fall, had suffered from the transition system which was in place, and were still paying higher bills than they should be.
‘Firms up and down the country are facing severe price pressures right now’
Mr Webber said: “The move to
four-yearly revaluations is all very well, as is the move to link business rates rises to CPI (Consumer Price Index) as opposed to RPI (Retail Price Index) increase. “But in themselves they will not
solve the crisis. Nor will the decision to give business rates relief to the smaller traders do anything to help those big retail chains that are suffering.”
source of income for local authority funding. Putting the burden of who pays it on an ever-decreasing number of companies is both foolhardy and dangerous, particularly if such bills are the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. “The new Prime Minister has said
he wants to support business and as Mayor of London he did call for a cut to business rates. I really hope he can navigate us through the Brexit negotiations and then turn to the choppy waters of business rates – before they finally overturn the ship, lifeboats and all.” Chamber chief executive Paul
John Webber: Urgent action needed on business rates
Colliers and the Chamber have
urged the Prime Minister to freeze any further business rate increases next year and remove downward phasing of business rates payments, enabling ratepayers to pay their true liability now and not in four years. They have also called for reform
of the whole relief system and also the appeals system, at the same time providing more support to deal with the backlog of existing appeals. Mr Webber said: “Business rates
contribute £26 billion to the country’s coffers and are a vital
Faulkner said: “Coupled with uncertainty created by Brexit, firms up and down the country are facing severe price pressures right now and it was no surprise to see a sharp increase in the number of companies concerned about rising business rates in our latest Quarterly Business Report. “While Mr Johnson is
understandably fixated on securing Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, it is essential that he also concentrates on fixing the fundamentals of the domestic economy in a bid to strengthen its competitiveness. Introducing a freeze on rates, simplifying and making this outmoded system fairer would be a good start.”
Plans to revamp Martineau Galleries
Hammerson, which owns and manages Bullring & Grand Central, has submitted a planning application to Birmingham City Council to regenerate the nearby Martineau Galleries site. The plans for the regeneration of
the 7.5 acre site – which includes the Square Shopping Centre, Dale End car park and 1-7 Dale End – would create new jobs and a mixed-use neighbourhood, and the end result would be ‘a signature gateway to Birmingham adjacent to Curzon Street station’. The planning application follows a
public consultation engaging with local residents and stakeholders, which found that most people (85 per cent) were happy with the plans. If approved, the proposals for
the regeneration of Martineau Galleries could create some 8,000 full-time jobs. The scheme would include a
hotel, around 1,300 homes, and would also create a new public square and boulevard. Some 350 full-time construction
Regeneration: How the new Martineau Galleries site might look
jobs would be supported during the life of the project and the whole scheme would provide a £225m boost to Birmingham’s economy. Martineau Galleries is the first
major scheme to be brought forward as part of Hammerson’s City Quarters concept which was announced in 2018, which is about the creation of mixed-use neighbourhoods.
Guy Wells, assistant director of Hammerson, said: “The response we have had to our consultation has been overwhelmingly positive. “There is a clear desire for the Martineau Galleries site to be regenerated to match Birmingham’s ambition for the future, creating new high quality homes, workspace, public space and jobs for local people.”
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