Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner has again called on the UK Government to speed up planning processes that are delaying Knighthead’s ambition to build a Sports Quarter in the heart of the Second City.

It was announced last April that American investment firm Knighthead, which is headed up by Wagner, had purchased 60 acres of land in east Birmingham, including the former home of Birmingham Wheels, to build the Sports Quarter. The facility will comprise a state-of-the-art stadium, training facilities for all Blues’ teams, as well as restaurants, offices and entertainment venues.

However, planning hasn’t yet been formalised with Wagner seeking assurances over a number of things, such as adequate transport links between the site and the city centre. Wagner wants to see progress made this year on a potential extension of the city’s Metro tramline to the site of the proposed Sports Quarter.

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“We’re hearing all the right things in our conversations. What we need to see now is a bit more action,” Wagner told the Financial Times. “We’re confident that they’ll do what needs to be done. If they can’t for this project, well then maybe I’d be more pessimistic on the UK economy more broadly.”

Knighthead controls around £9 billion worth of capital and Wagner is keen to invest in other areas if the Government makes it easier. “Capital is highly mobile, it will find the path of least resistance,” he added. “When governments begin making things harder, vis-à-vis other jurisdictions into which that capital may flow, they will suffer.

“There are lots of projects that we are looking at in the UK that we’d love to pursue if the process can be made easier. And we’re not the only ones. If things change by just a small amount, there’ll be a lot of capital inflow and a lot of excess growth.”

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