City Council and St Modwen stand firm in Longbridge legal battle
St Modwen Properties, worth £402 million according to its last financial results, insists difficult trading conditions means it cannot afford to pay £145,000 towards an upgraded railway station and park and ride until a suite of offices it has built on the 300-acre site returns a 20 per cent profit, the inquiry heard.
The company is appealing against the city council’s refusal to allow the building at the Longbridge Technology Park to be used chiefly as offices.
Mr Crean contrasted St Modwen’s behaviour with Bournville College, a charity, which has agreed to pay the tariff on its new Longbridge headquarters.
He said the council had offered a number of payment opportunities, including an option to pay half the £145,000 once the building is occupied and the remainder six months later. The options were rejected.
He added: “What is at stake in this appeal is the efficacy of the policy requirement that all development should contribute to a fair share of the cost of providing infrastructure, without which there will be no redevelopment, regeneration and renaissance of this most important area.”
Mr Kingston said the city’s attitude was a “tragedy” putting at risk job creation. He claimed the council was wrongly attempting to impose a minimum infrastructure tariff payment, when the Longbridge Area Action Plan did not stipulate any formula for minimum payments. The action plan specifically invited the council to be flexible given the difficult economic backdrop, he added.
The council’s approach was at odds with the action plan and guaranteed to “frustrate much needed employment generation proposals”, Mr Kingston said.
He pointed out that Longbridge landowner regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, which is joining with St Modwen in the appeal, had described as “unhelpful” wide-ranging restrictions imposed by the council on the type of tenants permitted to use the offices.
