Hopes and fears for future of Wolverhampton as traders give verdict on multi-million pound redesign plan

The £12.5 million work on Lichfield Street, Queen Square, Princess Square and Darlington Street includes tree-lined wider footpaths, more bus stops and coach stops, a two-way cycle route and new events spaces.

It will be the next step in the city centre improvement programme which has seen Victoria Street and the area around Civic Halls redeveloped, with work on those areas set to be completed by end of March.

However the work on Victoria Street has been criticised by traders and shop owners, who said they had lost trade through the disruption.

The area around Lichfield Street and Darlington Street was quiet yesterday morning, with people waiting for buses and heading to work, and some traders said they feared a similar issue to what had happened on Victoria Street.

At the Londis shop, which also acts as Wolverhampton Post Office, owner Harry Deo said he had been very disappointed to hear about the plans.

He said: “It’s basically the same thing they’ve been doing down on Market Street and Victoria Street and trade has fallen down there and I think it’ll be exactly the same up here. The city centre isn’t exactly booming as it is and I think the work will just bottleneck that off and make it even harder for people to come in.

“I’ve contacted the council for more information, but no one has gotten back to me in terms of the buses and the one-way system and I think it would just be nice for them to fill us in on the details.”

Further up Lichfield Street, the Sweet-Elohim-Afro Market was a busy shop, with people coming in to buy African and Caribbean foods.

Owner Georgina Konadu had a different point of view about the plans. She said: “I think it is a very good idea as it will make the area nice and clean and good for the environment.

“I don’t think it will have a lot of effect on my shop as where we are, we are very busy and we have a lot of people from other countries coming by and shopping here, especially African people.

“I think we’ll get a lot of passing trade even with the works going on.” Along Lichfield Street and further down on Darlington Street, a few traders spoke of their worries about disruption from works and lack of access for customers and deliveries. One of the newest traders on the street was Adam Bright, franchisee of Sassy Coffee.

He said: “It has been filling me with dread and anxiety.

“The final project, I think, is going to look really great, but I’m really concerned about the implementation of it.

“The short term problems are going to be if they close the street, it’ll put people off walking down and if they start putting down traffic cones and barriers and they don’t manage it properly, we’re going to have people just turning away from the street.

“I’ve had absolutely nothing from the council about this and I haven’t spoken to them or had any documentation from them and the first I heard about it was on social media, so nobody’s approached me about this.

“It’s hard to look past the original works that they’re going to do and that’s my biggest concern and, maybe, they’ll get it right and everything will be fantastic, but past experience tells me it’s not going to go that way.”

A Wolverhampton Council spokesman said: “This scheme forms part of our works to create a city centre environment that attracts more people and enables businesses to thrive and grow through a blended approach of retail supported by events and activities in quality public spaces, and city centre living.

“All businesses within this phase of the improvements scheme area have received information about the concept proposals and how they can provide feedback.

“As part of the Council’s commitment to engage with stakeholders, businesses and the public on major transformational projects within the city, the project has been the subject of extensive, inclusive and robust consultation over the past few months culminating in a six-week public consultation which ended on December 9.

“The scheme has also been well publicised in the Express & Star, other media outlets, and on social media to ensure as many groups, individuals and businesses as possible are aware of it.

“Further consultation with businesses will be undertaken to help inform the final, detailed designs of the scheme long before any works start on site.

“As part of the early engagement, businesses will be signposted to business support available to help them to prepare for the period during the works programme.”