Black Country Development Corporation
Encyclopedia
The Black Country Development Corporation was established in May 1987 to develop land in the Metropolitan Borough
s of Sandwell
and Walsall
.
Its flagship developments included the Black Country Spine Road. During its lifetime 11.9m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 3,774 housing units were built. Around 21,440 new jobs were created and some £1,150m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 988 acres (4 km²) of derelict land was reclaimed and 24 miles (38.6 km) of new road and footpaths put in place. The Chairman was Sir William Francis and, subsequently, George Carter and the Chief Executive was David Morgan. It was dissolved in 1998.
The Black Country Spine Road was notable for providing the area around Wednesbury
with a dual carriageway as well as reducing congestion on the narrower roads which surrounded it. The new road, which was opened in two phases in 1995, also freed up several square miles of previously inaccessible land which was soon developed for industrial and commercial use.
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
s of Sandwell
Sandwell
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
and Walsall
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...
.
Its flagship developments included the Black Country Spine Road. During its lifetime 11.9m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 3,774 housing units were built. Around 21,440 new jobs were created and some £1,150m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 988 acres (4 km²) of derelict land was reclaimed and 24 miles (38.6 km) of new road and footpaths put in place. The Chairman was Sir William Francis and, subsequently, George Carter and the Chief Executive was David Morgan. It was dissolved in 1998.
The Black Country Spine Road was notable for providing the area around Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
with a dual carriageway as well as reducing congestion on the narrower roads which surrounded it. The new road, which was opened in two phases in 1995, also freed up several square miles of previously inaccessible land which was soon developed for industrial and commercial use.