The urban regeneration of Sandwell is expected to take 15 years but could attract as much as £1.5bn of investment in local infrastructure. The Regenco development group behind the plans will target an area that runs from Sandwell’s boundary with Birmingham, through a district that was the cradle of the industrial revolution to Wednesbury, near the border with Wolverhampton.

The key character areas are Smethwick, famous for the Soho Foundry, where James Watt’s steam engines were made, and West Bromwich, a significant regional town centre and home to the highest-altitude league football ground in the UK. At one time Hill Top in Wednesbury was adopted by the Black Country Development Corporation, but has not much development help lately.

Each of the character areas has its own role to play within Sandwell and the broader regeneration of the West Midlands conurbation. Despite the level of dereliction and low GDP, all three areas are still significant employers, with many people commuting in. Local unemployment has dropped in recent years, though it’s still around six per cent.

The challenge is not just to sweep away the dereliction and build a load of new ‘sheds’, but to transform the environment and economy so that people feel: “this is the place to be”. It has to attract investment back into the inner urban area and reverse the ‘doughnut effect’ that has been created by peripheral development over the last two decades and more.

Despite the difficulties and challenges, the opportunities are massive. Located at the heart of the country’s transport network, there is easy access by road, rail and canal. Junction 1 of the M5 offers easy access to all parts of the area and the canals, once only used as a dustbin, are now being seen as prime development corridors for high-quality business and residential schemes.

In Smethwick, the local regeneration partnership has been working on a master plan for the North Smethwick canalside area. This area is typical of the challenges faced by decades of decline: low-added-value industries operating in old, unsuitable buildings and a ‘rustbelt’ of scrap yards providing low-density employment and low-paid jobs.

The Smethwick Regeneration Partnership’s master plan will see this transformed by Regenco, with the Brindley Urban Village developments maximising the value of the canals, providing an attractive area to live and work.

West Bromwich town centre offers a massive opportunity for new investment. The town had suffered for many years from the effects of a concrete collar ring road, together with 1960s and 70s shopping centres that can no longer compete with the massive out-of-town complexes developed in the 1980s. This, combined with a poor local economy, resulted in the inevitable growth of ‘pound shops’ and other low-value retail trades.

National high street names moved out. It was recognised that West Bromwich needed to provide a new offer – not just a row of spruced-up shops, but a new purpose: a reason to visit the town. This came in the form of the “pUBLIC”, the largest arts complex in Europe. The scheme, developed locally by the well-known community arts project Jubilee Arts, is now developing a £50m building in the town centre.

The ring road has been remodelled and a new transport interchange built, providing a user-friendly route from the Midland Metro station into the town centre. Other developments in the near future will see quality new retail development and the potential for a new college campus in the town.

Hill Top is still difficult. Part-derelict and part-covered by old industrial buildings occupied by small businesses, Hill Top is a long-term commitment that will require intensive intervention to provide a prosperous and sustainable future.

The whole approach to regeneration in the area continues to be partnership-driven. Local, regional and national partners have now come together to get Regenco off to a flying start, building on the plans that the partners have produced and developing them into real action on the ground.