Green and Brown issues
And the fact that Advantage West Midlands (AWM) has had £50m slashed off its budget and won’t be able to commit to a lot of future development projects is hardly likely to improve matters.
Developers don’t have a reputation for being big fans of Labour governments, and this traditional enmity may have something to do with why Gordon Brown is being so stubborn about retaining void rates legislation despite lobbying from numerous property industry bodies and even regional development agencies (which this government set up). One local developer is facing a tax bill of £1m on an empty shed in Staffordshire from October. Good news for the taxman, but how much of that money will come back to the local economy?
Brown’s point about void rates is that it is to encourage occupiers. It’s a strange bit of logic and clearly hasn’t worked – quite the reverse in fact. And it needs to be remembered by Whitehall that occupiers are employers, and if they don’t engage no jobs are created. Indeed, jobs are being lost as third party logistics companies downsize operations. As Insider went to press, 220 jobs at 3663’s depot at Fradley Park, near Lichfield, hang in the balance as the logistics business considers closing it.
On a brighter note, news that ProLogis has struck a deal with Biffa Waste Services for one of its large sheds at Midpoint Park in Birmingham suggests a potential new client base for industrial developers. Waste disposal, particularly when done in an ecofriendly way, is a growing sector. In fact, the ‘green’ economy seems to be more than holding its own.
August is Insider’s green issue, and it’s heartening to report that Midlands businesses remain committed to the environment. There has been much talk about the ‘green crunch’, the idea that green concerns go out the window in a recession. Not the case, we are pleased to find, not least because going green can save you money long term.
Let’s hope Brown comes to his senses before the area’s surplus of big sheds – 3.3m sq ft in Staffordshire alone – become the ultimate green buildings and the weeds start showing through the concrete. Nature, after all, abhors a vacuum.
Andy Coyne, editor
