There are few things that really seem to rile Andy Street. On ugly development and the death of the high street, he is optimistic. But, quiz him on High Speed 2 and he fires up.
“The government needs to take a decision. There are literally hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pounds of investment poised on the back of this decision,” urges the mayor of the West Midlands.
“Given the dynamo that it is for the West Midlands’ economy, it would be unthinkable if a government committed to levelling up did not pursue it. Unthinkable.”
When EG meets Street he is dashing between three events that perfectly sum up his priorities: design in development, HS2 and the response to climate change.
We begin chatting at the Mailbox in Birmingham, in the offices of global consultancy firm WSP, sandwiched between some of the city’s most expensive flats and department store Harvey Nichols. It is an apt location for the combined authority’s launch of the design charter, which seeks to set the bar for development, ahead of this much anticipated surge of activity.
Regional connectivity is high on the agenda, as is climate change resilience, wellbeing and social impact. But while the WMCA and its 18 local authorities and three Local Enterprise Partnerships are launching this charter, Street says real change can only come from buy-in from both the public and the private sector.
“I don’t accept that there are two different sides to this. The two come together in any major project,” he says.
The public sector can support this through “cash and governance”, he says, specifically pointing to the planning system and £4bn of infrastructure upgrades happening across the West Midlands. The private sector must play its part and step up with sustainable, creative solutions.
“It is appropriate that we set a really high standard now, so that generations in the future will look back at this incredible period of investment and see that it bequeathed to the future a standard of design we are proud of,” says Street.
High street saviour
The mayor is quick to list the examples of good development in the region, pointing not only to the Mailbox, but also Selfridges and Primark in Birmingham. “At alternative ends of the spectrum both thriving wonderful, state-of-the-art retailers in the city centre, categorical evidence that there is [a future for physical retail].”
Though, he admits, there is work to be done to bring life back to the ailing high street.
“There are three critical things,” he says. “First of all, more residential in town centres. We have done it in our big city centres, but for some reason in the left behind towns we have been less willing to do it. There is a lesson there.”
Street stresses that the West Midlands housing market “is incredibly robust”. He reels off the statistics: an easily achievable target of 215,000 homes by 2030, with 17,000 delivered last year. “That is a third up over two years and double the number of six years,” he says. “Actually, there is a vast acceleration in the number of homes being built, so the standard to which they are built over this period is really critical.”
This is a team game. There are things the public sector can do. But the response, has got to come from the private sector
His second and third critical elements to saving the high street are innovative spaces for start-up businesses and bringing back public services such as GP surgeries and leisure centres.
“We know all of those things generate footfall, and then there is the differential retail that will be helped by those,” says Street.
Good infrastructure and transport should be the foundation for regenerating town centres and Street says overseas there are plenty of examples of this approach. “You only have to look at Asian cities in particular to see how infrastructure, retail and residential all work together. There are answers elsewhere in the world.”
Government lobbying
On that note, he is off. Down to HS2 to meet with business leaders lobbying government for commitment to the project.
As Boris Johnson’s government and the Oakervee Review ponder the future of the 330-mile track – and alleged £106bn cost – linking the North of England to the capital, Street is vehement that it must happen.
In Birmingham alone, the lure of HS2 has already inspired at least £1bn of additional infrastructure investment with investors flocking to some £10bn of development opportunities in the region. In this way, Street says transport is a “catalyst” for development, bringing life back to ailing town centres and attracting private sector capital.
“This is a team game. There are things the public sector can do. But the response has got to come from the private sector,” he says, in a call to action for the industry.
While HS2 might be top of his priorities for central government, closer to home Street has put sustainability high on the authority’s agenda.
EG catches up with Street again later in the day at the offices of engineering company Cundall, at 15 Colmore Row, where he is presenting the combined authorities’ goal to be net zero carbon by 2041, almost a decade earlier than the national 2050 target.
Cundall, which has committed to becoming a carbon positive business by 2025, has achieved a 37% reduction in energy use at 15 Colmore Row and Street wants support from the government to make sure the region can respond to the climate change crisis with the same vigour.
“The government has got to put some cash on the table if this is going to happen. We will be lobbying for that,” he says.
More than 40 representatives from businesses, local authorities and climate change organisations have already backed the initiative.
Street says one way the government can provide finance is through devolving funds from the Energy Company Obligation paid by large energy companies as they do in Scotland.
“This is achievable. It is a given in Scotland and I would like the same for the Midlands,” says Street. “It gives us a ring-fenced fund. Even the existing cash could be worth £200m a year.”
He is also calling for support in the “mission critical” retrofitting of properties.
The West Midlands has made a small dent in this through its green deal work, updating just 3,000 of an estimated 1.1m homes.
“Frankly, if we had lots of cash in the till we would like to get on with it here. It is a positively legitimate case to put to central government for funding,” he says.
The region has long been known as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, but Street also calls it the “birthplace of the carbon footprint”, lamenting that the region is still a long way off being able to deliver on its net zero carbon goal.
He says that if the West Midlands wants to rise to the challenge when it comes to climate action, dramatic change will be needed. Dramatic and fast. And with that, he’s off again, streets ahead.
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