Wolverhampton Council’s new £12.5m depot to be discussed
The awarding of a multi-million-pound contract to build a new council depot is set to be discussed.
City of Wolverhampton Council is planning to spend £12.5m on a new depot and relocate its fleet of bin lorries, gritters, vans and minibuses from its existing city centre site in Culwell Street.
The city’s taxi licensing offices would also move to Hickman Avenue from the former Loxdale Primary School in Bilston. The council’s ‘Meals on Wheels’ service would also relocate.
The year-long work is expected to start in February 2026.
The new depot would include electric vehicle (EV) charging points to accommodate the council’s growing fleet of low-emission plug-ins including more than 80 minibuses.
The council is replacing its 450-strong fleet with electric vehicles after committing to become a ‘carbon neutral’ authority by 2028.
The depot contract will be discussed by cabinet at a meeting in Wolverhampton on September 3.
The existing depot in Culwell Street would be demolished to make way for the huge Brewer’s Yard development which will see up to 1,300 flats and homes built on the land alongside space for shops, offices, restaurants and bars.
Next week, the Labour-run council’s cabinet will be asked to move the plans forward by granting final approval of the £12.5m contract to cabinet member for city development, jobs and skills Cllr Chris Burden and the authority’s deputy director of assets.
A planning application for the new Hickman Avenue depot was submitted by the council in May but a decision has yet to be made.
The £12.5m contract for the new Hickman Avenue depot would be funded by £5.1m from the West Midlands Combined Authority, a £5m grant awarded to the city as part of the government’s Towns Fund, £1.6m from taxi licensing as well as loaning £750,000.
The budget includes nearly £1m for inflation and any contingencies.
The council’s cabinet initially approved relocating its depot from Culwell Street to Hickman Avenue in July 2021.
The new depot would replace the city’s 50-year-old wholesale market which was due to be revamped as part of the work but scrapped in a controversial move by the council last year.
The local authority said it could no longer afford the proposed £6m market or its £272,000-a-year running costs and was not legally required to provide a new facility.
It would instead be “prioritising essential services” due to “financial challenges.”
“There is no statutory requirement for the council to provide accommodation for a small number of private businesses, nor is it appropriate to effectively subsidise profit-making businesses with taxpayers’ money,” the council said in a statement.
Council leader Cllr Stephen Simkins said the wholesale market was ‘half-empty’ and making a £160,000 yearly loss.
The market’s traders were given 12 months notice which the council underlined was longer than the minimum period in tenancy agreements.
