Levelling Up Fund Round 3
Sandwell Council has been awarded a grant of just over £18m from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. This, together with match funding from the Council will be used to acquire various sites or leasehold interests at Cranford Street, Abberley Street, Grove Street and Halberton Street in Smethwick. The funding will also contribute to remediation of the land to result in development ready sites which will be able to accommodate around 151 new homes and a new primary school as part of a future development. The site assembly and remediation is expected to be completed by 2028.
The proposed development will complement the investment made by the NHS Trust in the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital and the Midland Met Learning Campus by bringing forward transformational regeneration of the adjacent area. The change from industrial uses to residential will be in line with the allocation in the Sandwell Local Plan and will deliver the vision as set out in the approved Grove Lane Masterplan, creating new sustainable communities and providing much needed family housing and open space links within this strategic regeneration corridor.