St. Modwen has started work on the £2 million Austin Park that will be the green heart of Longbridge town centre and will feature a 255 metre stretch of the River Rea which has been buried for nearly 100 years.
Named after Lord Austin of Longbridge, who founded the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge in 1905, it is the first public park to be built in South West Birmingham in the last five decades and will be a similar size to the bustling St. Philips Square in Birmingham city centre.
Austin Park is set to be the hub of the Longbridge community boasting high quality open space, footpaths, dramatic views and public art reflecting the site’s automotive history. When complete in 2013 it will feature more than 20,000 plants, 550 trees and scores of seating areas in addition to a pedestrian footbridge over the river.
It is part of a renaissance of parks in Birmingham over the past few years, providing high quality green spaces in which people can relax, socialise and exercise while bringing economic, social, cultural and environmental value to Longbridge.
Mike Murray, Senior Development Surveyor at St. Modwen, said: “Austin Park will be the centrepiece of Longbridge, providing a pleasant and inspiring place for residents, workers and visitors delivering lasting benefits that will help transform the former Longbridge site into a sustainable urban community. We are particularly pleased to be able to reflect the area’s history and culture.
“Austin Park has been carefully designed using a variety of high quality materials to offer a visually striking landscape that will enhance the new Longbridge town centre as a thriving destination.”
Currently under construction, the £70 million Longbridge town centre will boast the Sainsbury’s store as well as a 75 bedroom Premier Inn and Beefeater Grill, cafés and restaurants, two new office buildings called Park Point and Seven House and extensive car parking.
Next year’s opening of Longbridge town centre will bring investment at the former MG Rover site up to £250 million since it was acquired by St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, in 2003. This investment has already created 1,160 permanent jobs through the development of the Technology Park, Cofton Centre and the £66 million new Bournville College, which opened in September 2011. The first 113 new homes are already being delivered at Longbridge in partnership with the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the £5 million youth centre, The Factory, opened in summer 2012.
The regeneration of Longbridge is a £1 billion project covering 468 acres. It aspires to create 10,000 jobs through a diverse range of industries, together with 2,000 new homes, the new town centre, parks and public open spaces.