The taskforce brings together leading property experts across the public and private sectors to explore how public land could be used to provide greater benefit to local communities and the wider region. The taskforce will support wider collaboration and best practice in the development and disposal of public land in the West Midlands.
The total amount of land in the West Midlands in public ownership amounts to over 5,500 hectares. This represents a major opportunity to realise the economic value of these assets and ensure local communities and businesses directly benefit from their disposal and development.
The taskforce is being chaired by Stephen Barter, chairman of Wilton Capital Advisers. He has more than 40 years of real estate experience as an investor, developer and adviser. Among other appointments, he is a Special Adviser to Transport for London on the future funding and management of its land and buildings.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority, said: “At the WMCA, we have identified that public land can play a vital part in our economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. We have brought together senior leaders from the public and private sectors with expertise in land and real estate, convening to unlock the unrealised land potential in the public estate.
“By supporting the identification of surplus land to meet the additional housing and employment needs of the region and enable additional social infrastructure, the Taskforce can offer insight into how land can be used to fast-track an inclusive economic recovery for the region.”
