MP wants change for Longbridge

Feb 12 2007 By Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Mail

LONGBRIDGE should become a centre for education, training and environmental technologies, Birmingham City Council has been told.

Bournville College should be encouraged to move on to the site of the former Rover plant, said Richard Burden (Lab, Northfield).

And the MP, whose constituency includes Longbridge, also called for significant improvements to transport links.

He has submitted a detailed 4,800-word document setting out his vision for Longbridge's future, as the city council cabinet prepares to consider the results of a consultation on the future of Longbridge today.

But he warned that Longbridge and south west Birmingham could become a "dumping ground" for low-paid jobs unless it received urgent help to boost skills.

The MP also complained that efforts to help the area recover from the closure of Rover had floundered after the Rover Task Force was wound up last March.

The Task Force bought together quangos, Government agencies and city council departments under the leadership of Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency. He said: "Lack of clarity coordination and - in some cases - leadership means that the picture since then has been far more patchy."

Nanjing Automobile Corporation is using around a third of the site, but Birmingham City Council is to draw up proposals for the rest.