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Our work for our clients

We have worked for many years with public and quasi-public sector bodies engaged in regeneration and economic development. The firm's top clients are public authorities and we have many other public bodies within our most active clients. We also act for public bodies and numerous universities and further education colleges, a significant number of whom are embarking on major capital projects of a regenerative nature - new campus projects, learning quarters and similar - with funding support from a blend of public and private sources. A number of these projects are seen as critical to the revival of urban centres which have suffered from the decline of formerly staple industries, such as ceramics in the North Midlands, maritime trade in East Anglia.

Recent experience includes:

• Lead legal advisers on an urban village in Bilston, the largest regeneration project currently underway in the Black Country, planned to provide 1,500 new homes, a 20 acre park, improved public transport and employment and leisure uses. In relation to this matter, with our client we successfully managed from preparation to confirmation one of only three regeneration CPOs in the West Midlands region to have been confirmed (following public enquiry) since introduction of the new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2003.
• The largest regeneration project currently in the UK being the housing-led regeneration scheme in north Solihull involving housing refurbishment, demolition and new build market housing. The area falls within both the East Birmingham and north Solihull Regeneration Zone and the Eastern Corridor Pathfinder. We advised upon the formation of the public-private partnership to deliver the project and continue to act for the commercial developer within the partnership.
• A housing market renewal scheme falling within the Manchester Salford Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder involving site assembly, residential development, neighbourhood management improvements and affordable housing.
• A contractual joint venture between Warwickshire County Council and private developers to facilitate the regeneration of land at south west Warwick for a further 1200 homes and other employment economic purposes including dealing with the coordination of multiple planning obligations and environmental issues.
• Acting for an FE College participating in a joint venture with a nearby University for the site assembly and development of a learning quarter on a redundant waterfront site in a sub-regional centre, with funding support from the RDA.
• Acting for a University which is leading a joint venture with two FE Colleges, a metropolitan authority and a Neighbourhood Renewal partnership for the site assembly and development of a university quarter, with funding support from the RDA.

Our work on these projects extends to legal advice on:

• project vehicle and funding structures
• vires and governance
• EU Public Procurement rules and their application to complex projects
• EU rules governing State Aid
• Property/land transfers
• Planning and Section 106 Agreements
• Compulsory purchase (including relocation of occupiers)

Our people

Our regeneration work is cross-disciplinary. It is generally co-ordinated by our partner in charge of Construction, Paul Mountain. Paul leads a number of the projects described in the previous section and is a non-executive director of RegenWM, the West Midland region's centre of excellence for regeneration projects. Paul is closely supported by partners Catherine Burke, Head of Projects and PPP, and Clive Read, Head of Property: Education and Public Sector. Further support comes from partner John Rice (property finance and funding structures)

Our role in the community

We regularly contribute to sector debate and seek to influence policy. For example:

• We are members of the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA); and in December 2005 we hosted and contributed to a joint BURA/ODPM seminar on Regional Spatial Strategies, which was extremely well-attended by local government officers, policy officers from AWM and English Partnerships, developers, consultants. and numerous landowning institutions.
• In November 2005 we ran a seminar jointly with research body and think-tank Ecotec, on housing needs in the West Midlands region and the current state of the Housing Market Renewal programme.
• We are actively encouraging businesses within and beyond the West Midlands region and learning institutions to plan their contributions to the London Olympics in 2012. This will feature a conference in June 2006 on the role of HE and FE bodies in skills development, particularly in the realm of training facilities, tourism and leisure and the creative industries.
• Two of our senior lawyers are members of the Birmingham Planning Forum which is an affiliation of significant developers, housing associations and community groups within Birmingham City.
• Two of our senior lawyers are on the boards of housing associations and several of our partners and lawyers are governors of FE Colleges and other charitable organisations.

key expertise:

Catherine Burke
Partner
catherine.burke@martjohn.com

Paul Mountain
Partner
paul.mountain@martjohn.com

Clive Read
Partner
clive.read@martjohn.com

Andrew Whitehead
Partner
andrew.whitehead@martjohn.com

Michael Craik
Partner
michael.craik@martjohn.com