Plans to turn a huge brownfield site in the Midlands into a new community of 600 homes have taken a step forward.

Sandwell Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) have appointed housebuilder Keepmoat as preferred developer to construct the Friar Park Urban Village scheme in Wednesbury.

The scheme, a joint project between the council and WMCA, will see around 600 homes built on the huge site which is approximately the size of 32 football pitches. At least 25% of the homes will be classed affordable.

The site, which is joint owned by the council and WMCA, has been home to a waste treatment plant, a foundry and hospital in the past but has lain undeveloped for more than 40 years due to the complexity involved in making the land ready for housing.

Richard Parker, mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “I'm pleased to see more progress on this project.

“This is not an easy site to bring forward, but when I met with the Environment Agency, they assured me they are treating our land clean-up plans as a top priority now. That matters because thousands of families need a safe, warm home and this site can deliver 600 of them.

“The appointment of Keepmoat is a real step forward. They can now start designing a new community that will help meet our housing needs, create jobs and support the regeneration set out in my Growth Plan.”

Keepmoat is a strategic partner of the WMCA with the two organisations signing an agreement in 2023 under which Keepmoat committed to building 4,000 additional homes in the West Midlands.

Charlotte Goode, divisional chair at Keepmoat, said: “We’re thrilled to be working collaboratively with the WMCA and Sandwell Council to unlock this complex brownfield site.

“At Keepmoat, we’re committed to transforming lives and creating a thriving new community in Wednesbury is an exciting project to deliver much-needed high quality housing for local people.

“As brownfield specialists, with almost 70% of our current developments being delivered on brownfield land, the plans to breathe new life into Friar Park will champion affordability, accessibility, green space and connectivity. We have a strong relationship with the West Midlands Combined Authority and we’re immensely looking forward to continuing our work together on this flagship regeneration project with Sandwell Council.”

The first phase of work on Friar Park Urban Village will be to treat the land to address historic contamination issues so that it can be made ready for housebuilding.

A planning application will be submitted by the council and WMCA for the remediation work shortly and will be available for public comment.