Work to start on £55m Westside development by early summer
Work is set to start on the £55 million Westside project by early summer – with plans already being discussed for a possible extension.
Council bosses are desperate to get started on Wolverhampton’s landmark development off Salop Street, which was finally signed off last week after months of delays due to red tape.
With Odeon now confirmed as the cinema chain underpinning the project, Wolverhampton Council leader Ian Brookfield says he hopes to see “spades in the ground” by the start of June.
And he said he is already looking at “phase two” of the scheme, which could see Westside extended further into the city.
“I want the hoardings going up round the site as soon as possible as the clock is ticking,” he said.
“We need a few months to tidy a few loose ends up, and I expect work to start before the summer holidays.
“I want this to be the first stage. I think it will be immensely popular and I don’t see why we can’t extend the scheme further in a few years time.”
It came as Mr Brookfield revealed the council’s £4 billion vision for the city, which includes:
A ‘football quarter’ centring around a revamped Molineux, which could see its capacity increased to 55,000.
A ‘link bridge’ and walkway across the ring road connecting the football quarter with the rest of the city.
Up to four new top class hotels over the next five years, with the first one open in 2022.
The Brewer’s Yard development, which will see 1,200 homes near the University of Wolverhampton’s Springfield Campus.
Westside is scheduled to open by mid-2022, and will also feature mini golf, 10-pin bowling, a multi-storey car park, restaurants and shops.
Mr Brookfield said the development, which is being run by Urban & Civic, will “come together at the same time”, with work starting on all elements of the project simultaneously.
He said he did not expect the scheme to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, reasoning that the illness is likely to have faded by the time building work starts.
And he claimed any cost increases due to the delay would be offset by the cheaper borrowing rates that were now available on the global money markets.
“Things are coming together,” Mr Brookfield said. “Westside is good to go, the Civic halls open up again next year, the train station and the Interchange look fantastic.
“Developers are interested in coming here, and people want to invest here. These are exciting times and I can guarantee the people of the city won’t have seen anything like this before.”
Mr Brookfield is also adamant that children’s services in the city will grow under his leadership, vowing there will be “no more cuts” as part of a renewed focus on improving the lives of youngsters in Wolverhampton.
He is determined that the council will be a regional leader in tackling climate change, and recently announced groundbreaking plans for a solar farm to be developed to power New Cross Hospital with renewable energy.
He says his prime concern is bringing more jobs to the city, and he is planning talks with SMEs in the coming months to look at ways the council can help to boost employment opportunities.
“We can’t do anything if we don’t have the job to offer people,” he said.
“On one hand, we know the council is a big land owner and we can utilise that to bring new business in.
“But I really want to focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. They are the lifeblood. They bring in two-thirds of all jobs in the city but they are regularly overlooked.
My message to them is that if they want to expand, we will back them all the way.”
