2,000 jobs hope with Dudley Waterfront campaign

Council deputy leader Shaukat Ali will set a four-year target to fill up empty office at the Waterfront complex in Brierley Hill when he unveils plans for enterprise zone for the once-thriving site.

The scheme will be led by the council in partnership with office owners and will attract businesses by offering a reduction in rates for two years. The site has 750,000 sq ft in office space altogether.

However, 40 per cent of it is vacant, including the flagship Point North, left empty by Egg several years ago.

Councillor Ali said he hoped the offices could be filled under the scheme, bringing in 2,140 new jobs – double the amount already at the site. He said: "We want to see Merry Hill and the

Waterfront fully occupied with offices and shops and we are to do whatever we can to achieve that.

"The zone we are working up will provide new businesses to Dudley with a two-year discount in rates. We are going through the fine detail right now, in talks with office owners and taking legal advice, but we hope to have it put to the council's cabinet in the near future. It could be in place by the end of this year."

Councillor Ali said he hoped any upturn in office occupancy rates in the Waterfront would also kick start the surrounding economy. The site once boasted a lively night life with a string of bars and clubs along the canal. Today, only a Wetherspoons pub remains.

He said: "Things have been difficult in terms of the economy and this has had an impact to people and business.

"It has gone down to individual decisions by business owners to move out or close, I hope, with more workers in the that area, we will see a change in the situation."

The council also has an outline strategy to expand office development from the Waterfront toward Pensnett and Holly Hall. It would see up to a million sq ft in new office space, bringing an extra 6,000 new jobs.

But no timeline is in place and it depends on the success on schemes such as the enterprise zone. As part of the council's bid to bring in new businesses to the Waterfront a task team called Dudley Business First is promoting the borough across the country.