Government plans for a huge increase in house building would have to go hand in hand with massive transport improvements, West Midlands Business Council has warned.

And it highlighted big challenges facing Birmingham.

It stated: “Road congestion is clearly a major issue for business – leading to negative cost implications.

“There is a vital need to improve road capacity on the road network at some key junctions and along some link roads such as with the M40 Junction 15 (Longbridge), M1 Junction 19 (the junction of the M1, M6 and A14), A46/A45 (Tollbar) and M6 Junction 1 to Junction 4.

“Now that the Government has backed the option of M6 widening through Staffordshire this work needs to be progressed as soon as possible.

“There is also a need to improve the pace of work to enable the transport of freight by upgrading the routes between Birmingham to Felixstowe and Southampton, especially as a potential rise in business growth may be a consequence of an expanded house building programme.”

On bus, it states: “Services across the region, in the main, are failing to be an effective and reliable transport mode. The system of bus deregulation may have aggravated these difficulties.

“Even in the internationally recognised city of Birmingham bus services are not effective or regular throughout the night despite the growth of business tourism and commercial activity in the city. The problems with bus travel are a hindrance to the effectiveness of the hospitality sector.”

And on rail, it maintains: “One significant improvement to help rail traffic flows would be the introduction of the Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). While this would not necessarily mean that the long term need for four tracking to improve capacity at Birmingham New Street Station is not required, ERTMS could go a long way to improve the reliability and performance of rail services.”

The WMBC comments come in its response to a Planning Inspector’s plea for evidence.

The inspector will this month (April) be holding sessions at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux stadium to consider if more than 400,000 homes should be built across the West Midlands over the next 20 years.

“One of the questions, the Inspector has asked is whether transport policy should change to take account of the housing numbers,” said WMBC chief executive James Watkins. “We believe it should change.”

In the submission, WMBC welcomes the decision to consider the wider ramifications of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) in the light of the significance and scale of the proposed developments.

It goes on: “The business community has been frustrated that despite the inevitable impact such large housing developments will have on the transport infrastructure, it has not been possible, until now, to comment in any depth on this matter due to the limiting nature of the scale of the RSS Phase Two review in respect of transport.

“It is concerned that without addressing the additional transport needs that will arise from the scale of the housing developments, the impact of transport difficulties for the regional economy would only deteriorate.”
Mr Watkins points out how the British Chambers of Commerce has already claimed that transport problems are costing every business an average of £27,000 per year.

And the Federation of Small Businesses found eight per cent of members had lost more than £5,000 in revenue as a consequence of traffic congestion.

The report goes on: “For firms in the West Midlands region – at the heart of the country – the transport congestion and poor infrastructure is being felt every day. This is despite the fact that being located in the Midlands should provide geographical advantages – from just in time deliveries to developing the logistics and professional services sectors.

“We need to factor in transport improvements to cope with this increase in house building.

“Current transport integration is ineffective.”

It demanded “a fundamental review of transport requirements in the region”.

A failure to do so would aggravate the difficulties.

And the WMBC has long argued that the projected expansion of Milton Keynes could also adversely impact on Midlands transport.

The planning inquiry starts on April 28 and ends on June 26 after which the inspector will produce a report for the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Hazel Blears.

Pundits reckon it could be spring 2010 before anything is decided.