Plans for a new hotel near the flourishing M42 corridor have been submitted as part of a wider investment in the National Motorcycle Museum.
Proposals to be submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) for a 250-bedroom hotel and wider refurbishment at the museum would create up to 200 jobs, trustees claim.
The proposals are timed to coincide with plans to invest hundreds of millions of pounds into a project, dubbed UK Central, to create 100,000 jobs around HS2, the NEC and Birmingham Airport.
However, the scheme would require development in the borough’s green belt, and a senior Solihull councillor said the museum will have to prove exceptional circumstances for work to take place.
Museum trustees say the plan is to restructure to provide a major tourism attraction displaying the heritage of the British motorcycle industry.
The plans come on the back of increased demand for conferences and overnight stays at the museum, and trustees say if proposals are give the green light they will secure the future of the existing 150 staff.
Nick Hartland, one of directors of the museum said: “We believe that the proposed interest will transform the museum as a tourist attraction of international reach.
“The proposals will provide many new jobs and we believe are very much aligned with the council’s long term economic strategy for UK Central.”
The proposals for the museum are one of the first to city UK Central plans as a reason for investment.
The Post reported last June that UK Central set out to benefit from a plethora of investment around the M42 corridor, with proposals for high-speed rail at the heart.
SMBC and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) have said the wider scheme could create 100,000 jobs and boost the economy by almost £20 billion in decades to come.
However, Ian Courts, portfolio holder for economic development and regeneration at SMBC, said that as there were no specific land proposals behind UK Central currently, the issue of developing in the green belt would have to be addressed. He told the Post: “The UK Central proposals are long term proposals for the area, but as of itself it is not a planning document.
“Although the objectives of UKC are to encourage economic development in Solihull, at the moment it doesn’t have specific land proposals, so the museum would have to tackle the local plan and justify developing in green belt.”
GBSLEP chair Andy Street said it was positive to see investment plans on the back of UK Central.
He added: “Private sector investment is key to this and to hear that before any public money has been earmarked, that this investment is already happening, is extremely encouraging.
“Our Strategic Economic Plan, which we will be submitting to Government in March, is likely to include several proposals to drive UK Central. It will be useful for us to be able to demonstrate how our vision is already aligning with real investment.”
The museum said, in a statement, that the proposals would lead to a “dramatic transformation” which would help to preserve the heritage of British motorcycle industry.
“The world’s largest collection of British motorcycles is hugely important, it is evidence of the engineering skills, innovation and expertise of an industry largely based in the West Midlands,” it adds.
