£750m Longbridge plan revealed

Plans have been unveiled for the £750 million redevelopment of the former MG Rover site at Longbridge, creating nearly 2,000 homes and 10,000 jobs over the next 15 years.

It will include a new town centre built on the site of the former car factory in the biggest single regeneration project yet seen in the Midlands.

There will be a 4.2 acre Austin Park at the heart of the town centre and an 11 acre Rea Park at Longbridge West.

Longbridge East will feature 11 acres of public open space, known as Arrow Park, at the core of what will be a new residential community.

Two of Birmingham's long forgotten rivers, the Rivers Rea and Arrow, will be opened up for the first time in decades.

There will be a new 'learning quarter' on the site earmarked for the town centre, anchored by Bournville College, which announced earlier this year it will relocate to a new purpose-built £84 million educational facility at Longbridge in 2011.

Joint landowners St Modwen and Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency, have submitted four major planning applications for the 468-acre site.

The move is seen as a landmark in the regeneration of Longbridge three years after the £1.4 billion collapse of the MG Rover business and the loss of 6,000 jobs.

Bill Oliver, chief executive of St Modwen, said: "Longbridge is a site with a world-renowned heritage and today we have moved this area of the Midlands into a new and incredibly exciting era.

"The potential Longbridge has to become a thriving economic hub and a sustainable new residential community is now apparent, and it is more than matched by the vision and confidence St Modwen and Advantage West Midlands have in Longbridge as we enter this new chapter in its history."

The applications, representing £750 million of mixed use development, have been submitted to Birmingham City Council and Bromsgrove District Council.

Covering Longbridge North, Longbridge West and Longbridge East, together with improvements to the A38, the applications come in the wake of the Longbridge Area Action Plan (LAAP), which was submitted to the Government in March 2008 following a major public consultation exercise.

If the proposals get the green light, the next 15 years will see 1.8 million sq ft of employment opportunities for Longbridge, plus 1,980 new homes and a new town centre just off the A38 Bristol Road South.