A Case Study about Merry Hill in the West Midlands. This is a good case study for anyone studying A2 Geography and World Cities

3.  Built between 1984-89
 Continuously redeveloping to keep up with town-centre developments and to
keep on top of competition from other places such asTrafford Centre,
Manchester.
 Two levels of mall shops, 185+ shops 100,000m2
 Shops
 Department stores
 Large variety stores,
 2 supermarkets
 24 catering outlets
 A retail warehouse park (2,787m2)
 Multiplex cinema (371.6m2)
 10,000 parking spaces
 Customer visits = aprox. 21 million/yr
 3rd largest facility of its type in the UK
 Also provides - banks and building societies, post office, tourist info centre,
community facilities e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau and senior citizens’ clubs
 TheWaterfront is next to Merry Hill which provides offices for companies such as
Virgin Media, and has a marina with bars and restaurants

4.  Bus station since 1986 – direct connections to towns e.g. Dudley, Stourbridge and
West Bromwich as well as cities Birmingham andWolverhampton.
 Service also connects to the railway station – Cradley Heath & extended Metro
line into Birmingham.
 Was an elevated monorail from 1991 at Merry Hill but was closed in 1996 from a
result of technical problems and safety concerns.

5.  In 1980s Enterprise Zones were government created and incentives were given for
firms that wanted to set up in areas which had been affected by the downturn in
manufacturing.
 Incentives included relaxed planning rules and a 10 year period exempt from
business rates.
 Developers took advantage & made a shopping centre rather than industrial
units.
 Used former steelworks site and large green space – Merry Hill Farm
 Merry Hill Farm was formerly well used by local people for recreation and was a
haven for wildlife.
 There was resentment when the first phase of building began on the green space,
including protests from local citizens.
 Planning consent was granted even before the closure of Round Oak Steelworks
in 1982 – the land of the farm was to be used for the tipping of steelworks waste.
 The perimeter was landscaped with embankments and tree planting to mask the
tipping from nearby houses.
 The development not only destroyed the farm but also removed the new
landscaping and threatened the stability of the canal embankment on the hillside.
 This resulted in the closure of the Dudley Canal to traffic for a number of years.

6.  The movement of large retail chains into Merry Hill centre left a number of large
empty premises behind which meant shoppers abandoned town centres.
 This led to a large downturn in trade for remaining shops, affecting their liability.
 Dudley was most affected – Halesowen and Stourbridge were also hit.
 Furthermore Dudley Council announced it was bringing in parking charges which
turned more shoppers away from local towns and towards Merry Hill where
parking is free.
 Parking charges were supposed to be introduced in 2008, in response to local
council requirements that a shopping centre of its size should implement charges
similar to those in town centres.
 Other nearby towns have responded to Merry Hill by redeveloping their own town
centres e.g.Touchwood.
 1/3 shops in Dudley are either vacant or lower grade than it was before.
 Non-food market in Dudley High Street fell by 70%
 Town centre rents fell by 24% as names such as M&S and Boots moved out of the
town centre.
 In their place came discount stores and charity shops.

7.  Dudley Canal has been rerouted and new flats and houses have been built around
the site with more expected.
 New Midland Metro tram system will open in 2011 – terminates a short distance
south of the centre in Brierley Hill and gives direct rail links to Dudley,Tipton and
Wednesbury.
 Replacement cinema (16-20 screens) will be built on vacant land behind current
cinemas in 2010.Also other leisure facilities such as a bowling alley, comedy club,
outdoor performing area, restaurants, bars and a casino are planned.
 This ‘leisure plateau’ will begin the integration with Brierley Hill with a direct
walkway between the two.
 Entertainment area will be a newly created public square.
 Expansion along the canal is expected to turn it into an entertainment district that
could rival city locations.
 The redevelopment of the centre is intended to achieve high levels of ‘green’
efficiency with Merry Hill to be the first retail development in the country to be
awarded BREEAM (Building Research Establishment EnvironmentalAssessment
Method).
 Many local factories and establishments are planning on closing down or
relocating to make way for more modern apartments, multi-storey car parks and
businesses.