A Walsall site that has been derelict for two decades will be redeveloped for 620K SF of new workspace as a programme of brownfield land grants begins to yield results.

Developer HBD has submitted a planning application for the long-neglected 44-acre Phoenix 10 site. The project, which will see work on-site begin in 2023 and complete by 2027, envisages a £100M scheme on the heavily contaminated former James Bridge Copper Works site.

The site is among the most seriously contaminated in the Black Country, with contamination extending to 40 feet underground.

Infilled land includes waste materials from the copper refinery; there are also work-out coal mines with high heavy metal contamination. Other areas include asbestos cement, pressed effluent and scrap rubber to a depth of up to 35 feet.

The scheme is part of a £53M portfolio of cleanup projects.

The project will deliver up to 620K SF of employment space at the site close to junction 9 of the M6 motorway.

HBD has partnered with Walsall Council and Homes England to deliver the project. The Black Country LEP and the West Midlands Combined Authority are supporting the project with funding for the site remediation phase of works, Business Desk reported.