Part three of our review of 2023 moves into the summer months and begins with the news that big changes were afoot at the new HS2 Interchange station in Solihull. Plans for a multi-storey car park containing 4,500 spaces at the site east of the M42 were abandoned in favour of a surface-level parking facility.
These received planning consent in late 2022 but during July Solihull council chiefs said they were instead backing an initial 2,750-space, surface-level car park.
Funding would have come from a £50 million Government grant and a loan from the combined authority but the multi-storey car park option had an estimated cost of around £95 million which was deemed unaffordable due to rising construction costs and inflation.
Council chiefs in Birmingham announced that a deal had been struck with the Frankfurt Christmas Market's organisers to run the event for another five years, from 2023 to 2027, which is expected to bring in £350 million in economic benefit.
It estimated that expenditure created by the huge annual market in Victoria Square and New Street supported more than 7,000 jobs. The annual event now welcomes around 100 stalls, selling gifts, food and drink, and first came to Birmingham in 2001.
Apart from 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic, it has been held every year since and has grown significantly since that first year when just five stalls were set up.
August kicked off with a bang after global sporting megastar Tom Brady announced he had bought shares in Birmingham City. The retired NFL player became a minority shareholder in the Championship football club following its takeover by US businessman Tom Wagner earlier in the year.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion partnered with the club's holding company Knighthead Capital Management and became chairman of a new advisory board. The club said Mr Brady, who ended his NFL career in 2023, would apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the club including health, nutrition and recovery programs.
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One story came to dominate the headlines above all others during August when a famous and historic pub burned down.
At the end of July, it was announced that The Crooked House, near Himley in Staffordshire and which dates back to 1765, had been acquired by new owners from pub group Marston's.
But, less than two weeks later, fire crews were called to a huge blaze at the pub which caused universal outrage among locals, civic leaders and heritage campaigners. The Crooked House was famous for its wonky angles after suffering from subsidence as a result of mining.
The region's manufacturing sector received another boost courtesy of car maker Jaguar Land Rover when it announced plans to create 300 jobs at a trio of sites.
It said it was hiring for technician and test engineer roles at its factories in Solihull, Gaydon and Whitley to support the growth of Range Rover production and development of its next electric models.
Of the 300 roles, around 100 maintenance technicians are based at its Solihull plant to operate and maintain highly automated, precision production facilities in a new £130 million body shop.
The news came just a few weeks after it was confirmed that interim chief executive Adrian Mardell was confirmed in the role on a permanent basis and ahead of December's launch of its first-ever fully electric Range Rover.
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The future of Perry Barr Stadium in Birmingham became much clearer after developers announced details of plans to regenerate the site. Corbally Group said it wanted to build up to 427 new houses on the plot north of the city centre and was preparing a planning application to be submitted to the council.
The proposals also include a range of public and private gardens, play areas and interactive playgrounds as well as opening up the River Tame with a biodiverse riverside park which will be accessible to the public.
The site, in Aldridge Road, is currently used as a greyhound and speedway racetrack but the lease expires in 2026 and operator Arena Racing Company had already announced plans to develop new premises at Wolverhampton Racecourse.
Only one story led the news agenda in September after Birmingham City Council issued a Section 114 notice - essentially declaring itself bankrupt. Europe's largest local authority found itself at the centre of national media headlines as a long-running equal pay claim worth £1 billion and a botched new IT system finally broke its finances.
There had been earlier warnings with the removal of previous leader Ian Ward in May but the stark reality of the council's finances were laid bare for all to see.
The authority guaranteed to run essential services but, beyond that, nothing has seemed to be off the table in terms of budget cuts, council tax hikes and staff redundancies.
And finally for quarter three, bus services received a boost after it was announced that £40 million of taxpayers' money would be used to prop up routes across the region until 2025 to avoid operators axing them.
Companies like National Express West Midlands, which runs more than 90 per cent of the region's buses, had threatened to cut or reduce a third of routes. But West Midlands Combined Authority stepped in with money provided by the Government's £88 million Bus Service Improvement Plan grant to save them.