Row of empty shops in Wolverhampton city centre to be demolished

The seven vacant retail units on Cleveland Street occupy the stretch between Cleveland Passage and Bell Street. Once cleared, the site is due to be utilised in spring 2023.

In a written statement to city planners, Mark McVicar, director of regeneration consultants Place Change Limited, said: “The demolition is to facilitate the future redevelopment of the site as part of the council’s Future High Street Fund programme and to meet its obligations to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

“The application is to demolish the vacant parade of shops, including the removal of the building foundations and – if discovered during works – any basement areas, although surveys have suggested there are no existing basements.

“Thereafter, the site will be appropriately backfilled and graded to tie in with adjoining footways/highways and the existing service yard level. All excess spoil and waste materials will also be removed.

“Following demolition works, temporary hoardings will be erected around the site to ensure its security in the interim period, pending the future redevelopment in approximately one year’s time,” he added.