Almost 7,000 homes included in Wolverhampton city centre plan
Plans to develop 33 city sites as part of a ten-year regeneration programme for the centre of Wolverhampton look set to move forward next week.
City of Wolverhampton Council’s future city centre plan could see almost 7,000 homes built across 10 key regeneration areas, part of proposals to create a “more welcoming, vibrant, and better-connected” city centre.
In proposals released last month, future schemes could include up to 1,000 homes built as part of a redevelopment of the area around Molineux Stadium, while other prominent city-centre areas at Queen Square and St Peters would also be targeted for development.
The document will go under the microscope at a council cabinet meeting on September 2, and approval for the plans could set compass for the city’s future development for the next decade.
Wolverhampton council says its plan will be supported by a delivery pipeline, setting out sites and proposals to be supported or implemented, including priorities, phasing, interdependencies, and potential funding sources.
Darlington, St George’s, Canalside, Chapel Ash, and Graiseley are all targeted for residential growth, with the first homes already being built at Canalside and Darlington via ECF’s Smithgate Bicycle Works scheme.
The area around the city’s railway station is also earmarked for a future scheme, described as a “significant opportunity to create a new mixed-use neighbourhood”, that builds on the area’s commercial success and “distinctive industrial character”.
The plan also identifies the city centre’s “canal corridor” as a significant but under-utilised asset with the potential to become a defining feature of Wolverhampton’s future growth – with plans to transform the canal from a “largely disconnected” heritage asset into an attractive, well-connected waterside corridor.
“The Plan identifies 10 regeneration areas which together provide a spatial framework for delivering the long-term transformation of Wolverhampton city centre,” said a report due to go before cabinet next week.
“Collectively, these regeneration areas provide the development capacity, investment focus and place-based delivery framework needed to support a more vibrant, inclusive, connected and resilient city centre over the plan period.
“The plan provides a clear, inclusive and robust basis from which the council and inward investors can make informed decisions on site assembly, sustainable growth, infrastructure delivery and investment.”
The Our Future City Centre plan will go before cabinet at City of Wolverhampton Council on Wednesday, 2 September from 4,30pm.
