Adam Hawksbee, Deputy Director and Head of Levelling Up, writes for Times Red Box on why public land is key to unlocking a place’s potential. He writes:
“The opportunity today to revisit our approach to public land is enormous. Birmingham city council’s property strategy highlights the startling fact that it owns 26,000 acres of land — much of it in the most deprived parts of the city.
Birmingham is not alone — the excellent “Who Owns England?” project reveals that English councils collectively own 1.3 million acres of land, about 4 per cent of England. And big public projects keep adding to the national total, with HS2 representing the largest property acquisition programme since the Second World War.
So how can this public land be used strategically, to make sure it doesn’t end up being a selloff of public assets, but instead drives community-focused and environmentally friendly regeneration?”
You can read the full piece here.
