Old industrial sites hit redevelopment plans

THE Industrial Revolution is still having an impact on council coffers today, it has been revealed.

- BY CHRISTIAN BARNETT

Sandwell Council is braced for a £625,000 shortfall this year alone from a lack of 'large' housing development applications.

A lack of greenbelt land is partly to blame - but parcels ripe for redevelopment are also being spurned by developers because of contamination from heavy industry from years gone by.

Sandwell forms part of the Midlands' industrial powerhouse which fuelled the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and 19th centuries.

It was home to coal mining, ironworks and metal trades. The canal network at the heart of the area was used to transport goods and materials.