Black Country Core S trategy Regeneration Corridor 7 Regeneration Corridor 7 - Bloxwich - Birchills - Bescot RC1 RC15 RC2 RC6 RC7 Wolverhampton Walsall RC3 RC4 RC5 RC16 RC8 RC9 West Bromwich RC10 RC11 RC12 Brierley Hill RC13 RC14 A4124 Relocated rail station part of transport Bloxwich interchange for Bloxwich. Trident Alloys Proposed Resource Around 250-350 Recovery Centre. A34 new homes. Fryers Road - Walsall Council Waste Transfer/Recycling Facility. Potential rail station Roughwood Chase LNR. The for Leamore. Wyrley and Essington Canal in this area provides an opportunity to link new development areas to significant green space. M6 Retained local, potential and existing high quality employment land at Leamore and Green Lane. Canalside communities up to around 1,000 homes in Birchills area and further north. Potential highway Birchills improvement. A454 Walsall J10 Jute Works Manor Hospital rebuild. M6 A4148 Local employment retained Commitment for inc. Premier Business Park, around 184 Pleck Road and Wednesbury homes. Road (50ha). Walsall Cement Bulk - lime and cement distribution facility A4148 Potential rail J9 Bescot station for Pleck. Housing led development with some high quality or locally retained industry. Potential highway improvement. Bescot Aggregate Sidings. N ©Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Sandwell MBC Licence No. 100032119 2011 The delineation of boundaries within the diagrams and the figures provided are illustrative to give a broad indication of the scale of change. Regeneration Corridor 7: Bloxwich – Birchills – Bescot Vision 7.1 This corridor is a typical Black Country mix of homes and industry which skirts Walsall town centre and extends alongside the railway and canals to the north. Its key potential is one of a mix of renewal and redevelopment to evolve new attractive residential canalside communities with access to local industrial jobs and, in particular, to the centres of Walsall, Wolverhampton and Birmingham. The Wyrley & Essington and Walsall canals, the A34 and Pleck Road, and the Walsall to Cannock railway connect the area. Features and Opportunities 7.2 Features This area comprises a long narrow corridor to the east of the M6 in Walsall, stretching from Bloxwich, in the north of Walsall Borough, through a mixed residential, commercial and industrial area west of Walsall Town Centre, towards the Bescot/Palfrey area on Walsall’s southern boundary. The northern part, to the west of Bloxwich district centre, is largely residential, composed mainly of former local authority housing. Two railway stations are located in this area with direct rail services to Cannock, Walsall and Birmingham New Street. Southwards to Bloxwich is an extensive area of industry, then a large public housing area, and then, around the north-west of Walsall Town Centre, a mixed area displaying inner-city characteristics of older industry, terraced housing, commercial frontages and late twentieth century houses and flats. There are high levels of deprivation in much of this area, and the infrastructure is in need of a comprehensive upgrade. The areas south of the A454, Pleck, Alumwell and Palfrey, are similar to this. There is also a lack of green space close to the residential areas around central and north Walsall. 7.3 Opportunities Canalside Communities initiative which aims to promote new residential development in appropriate areas to regenerate under-utilised and brownfield land into attractive environments, linking new and existing neighbourhoods along the Walsall Canal. Manor Hospital has undergone comprehensive improvement replacing old buildings with new state-of-the-art facilities increasing the services provided. These include a new Multi-Professional Education Centre which provides training facilities for NHS staff. Rail improvements and potential for additional stations in Bloxwich, Leamore and Pleck Canals provide green links and attractive settings M6 Junctions 9 and 10 – main gateway to the Black County from national road network. The 5Ws high volume route (possible Metro line) 56 Spatial Strategy 7.4 The strategy will provide a balance of retained local employment land in the Green Lane (A34) corridor, with housing growth focused on the Canalside Communities project centred on the Walsall Canal extending from Walsall town centre towards Leamore and Bloxwich in the north. Canalside Communities are key to this strategy as they will regenerate under-utilised and brownfield land into attractive environments. This will have a knock on impact for the rest of the corridor, therefore promoting further investment in the area. Indicative Land Use Figures Total Existing Employment Land 189 Hectares Housing Commitments on Former Employment Land 630 dwellings (April 2009) (18 ha) Housing Proposals on Surplus Employment Land 1015 dwellings (35 dph gross) (29 ha) Of which: 2007-16 911 dwellings 2016-26 104 dwellings Total Estimated Housing Capacity 2009 to 2026 1645 dwellings Retained Gross Strategic High Quality Employment Land (Policy EMP2) 10ha Potential Gross Strategic High Quality Employment Land (Policy EMP2) 10 ha Retained Gross Local Employment Land (Policy EMP3) 114ha Additions to employment land through existing development opportunities (RELS April 2009) 14 ha Total Gross Employment Land at 2026 156 ha Long term supply of land for new employment development through recycling of gross employment land (Policy EMP4) 50 ha 7.5 Creating Sustainable Communities New community special school at Leamore Lane; and replacement for Joseph Leckie School. The replacement Walsall College of Art and Technology will also benefit the corridor. Manor Hospital Redevelopment. Other healthcare improvements via developer contributions. 57 7.6 The Economy, Employment & Centres The corridor is served by a number of local centres, which provide for everyday needs, and which present development and investment opportunities. The main convenience and comparison shopping is available in Bloxwich and Walsall, which are just outside the corridor. The retained local employment areas are generally relatively modern, of good quality and well related to the primary road network. Included in this is the TK Maxx logistics development at Green Lane, which makes a small contribution to the supply of high quality employment areas. 7.7 Transportation & Accessibility Walsall Town Centre Ring Road now complete Junction10 M6 Improvement: Junction 9 M6 Capacity Enhancements Red Routes: A34, A454 Line speed and signalling improvements to Walsall – Cannock Line Reopening of Walsall - Stourbridge Line Increased frequency of Walsall – Birmingham and reintroduction of Walsall- Wolverhampton train services Relocated railway station from Croxdene Ave to Croxstalls Rd, Bloxwich New railway stations at Pleck & Leamore Bus Showcase Routes: Walsall–Wolverhampton, Walsall – Dudley, Bloxwich – Wolverhampton, implemented from 2008-9 High Volume Public Transport Route between Wolverhampton, Walsall, Wednesbury and Darlaston: to be implemented by 2015/16 subject to funding Attempts to link up local cycle routes within this corridor (in both the northern and southern ends) to national cycle route 5 running through Walsall town centre will be encouraged to improve sustainable movement / transport. 7.8 Environmental Infrastructure The area is served by a range of urban open spaces largely in need of qualitative improvement such as, Oily Gough’s, Reedswood Park, Sister Dora Gardens, New Mills playing field and Pleck Park. The disused Reedswood Golf Course has potential for residential development. Improved links should be provided to major open spaces and green infrastructure outside the corridor, for example Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve, to enable greater public accessibility and better opportunities for wildlife corridors and species migration. Potential enhancements or newly created links will be especially important if existing wildlife movement corridors are altered as a result of major development proposed through the ‘canalside communities’ initiative in this corridor. Barriers to linking development areas to green infrastructure do exist in and around this corridor, particularly where there is a need to cross the M6, but certain opportunities are present and should be protected and enhanced through developer contributions. For example, a greenway where the existing canal network crosses the M6 and enters Rough Wood LNR should be maintained as a priority. 58 There are various nature conservation designated sites in and around this corridor with important wildlife issues such as protected species and priority habitats. Therefore the Core Strategy will take steps to protect and enhance them and, where proposals could impact on these designations, ensure that adequate mitigation measures are provided against any adverse effects. Flood risk is a significant factor for this corridor. The SFRA identifies areas of flood zone 3a and 3b where the Sneyd Brook runs north to south along the western edge of the corridor (although predominantly outside the corridor boundary). The majority of proposed development, particularly housing, in this corridor is situated to the centre and east of the corridor and thus away from these areas of high probability flood risk to meet the sequential test. Any proposals for development in these high probability flood risk zones would need to produce detailed Flood Risk Assessments and may have to satisfy the exception test in accordance with PPS25 and Policy ENV5 (Flood Risk, Sustainable Drainage