BLACK COUNTRY MISSES OUT ON £50 MILLION

12-12-2007

The Black Country has lost out in the £50 million regeneration competition organised by ITV and the National Lottery. Viewers voted instead to support Sustrans, whose new national cycle route will include Birmingham’s Sutton Park.

Despite the result, civic leaders in the Black Country were still making optimistic noises today.

Penny Russell, project manager of Dudley’s amazing Strata project, which would allow visitors to travel deep underground and see millions of years of geological history remained defiant.

“This is a major disappointment to us all, but the vision of Strata will stay alive as long as people believe it is a good idea" she said.

"It may take longer to achieve, but we will get there."

Sarah Middelton, chief executive of the Black Country Consortium that led the joint bid involving all four Black Country boroughs, said: “It is a major disappointment but it is not a killer blow.

“The project will go ahead. It just won’t happen as quickly as if we had the £50 million from the Big Lottery Fund.”

One insider said today that the bid had at least been successful in getting the traditionally disunited Black Country folk to rally round as one.

People in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell – with plenty of backing from Brummies – came together to ensure the local scheme came a creditable second, although with 29% of the vote (around 83,000) it fell well short of Sustrans which was the clear winner with 42%.

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