A HUGE Midland regeneration scheme is set for a £30 million boost to kick it back into life.

The 15-year £1.8 billion Regenerating North Solihull project, creating new homes and schools, has already been delayed by five years.

Now Solihull Council is trying to increase its prudential borrowing limit to £30 million to plug a huge gap in funding.

The move will mean new village centres at Craig Croft and North Arran Way can go ahead, as can plans to continue with a programme to build new schools or remodel existing ones.

Solihull Council leader Coun Ian Hedley is seeking agreement for the plan at a meeting on Tuesday.

“We decided this was one of our top priorities and we looked at how much money was needed for what we wanted to do,” said the Shirley East Liberal Democrat. “What we require is for full council to approve a change in our prudential borrowing limit.”

The Regenerating North Solihull scheme set out to transform some of the most deprived wards in the country – Chelmsley Wood, Smiths Wood and Kingshurst & Fordbridge.

It pledged to create more than 8,000 new homes, ten schools and five village centres, as well as new community facilities.

Explaining how it ran into difficulties, Coun Hedley said: “The economic funding was predicated on land values and selling houses.

“It was based on a plan that involved money being generated throughout the cycle to be invested.

“When the economy went down land values dropped and selling houses became more difficult.

“The generation of money was more difficult and we lost some investment money too.

“We felt, in order to get the project running, we would put money into the village centres and into getting the schools programme back on track.”

The council’s stance was backed by Neil Roberts, the minister at Chelmsley Wood Baptist Church.

“My biggest fear was they would pull out and cancel the whole thing but they appear to be trying to find ways of making it work and that is reassuring,” Mr Roberts said.