Centre overhaul put off until next year

A £50million scheme to overhaul Stourbridge's Crown Centre will not begin until early 2010, developers have confirmed.

Modus officials yesterday said that while behind-the-scenes planning would continue, residents should not expect to see any work on the centre until next year. No firm date for the scheme to begin has ever been confirmed by the developer but Dudley Council had expected it to begin this spring.

Modus said there were a number of reasons for not starting until next year. Bosses say final plans for the design of the site need to be studied and confirmed, to ensure everything is in place before any construction starts.

Key documents also need to be studied further by legal teams, and negotiations with Tesco completed.

Talks between the two firms are "nearing completion", according to officials, but a firm date has still not been set for when the contract will finally be signed. The Express & Star reported last week that Dudley Council had heard that the developer was considering not starting development work on the project until 2010. At the time, this had not been confirmed but chiefs from the authority were still left stunned.

A meeting between the council and Modus has been set up for tomorrow for the matter to be discussed further. Modus spokesman Peter MacFarlane said: "Although it cannot be seen by members of the public yet, we have been working on this project constantly for two years. As for the physical work on the centre, we are now looking at early 2010 as a starting time.

"We have never set a firm date for the work, and this is because of the sheer scale of the project. Over the coming months, we will be looking on the final designs for the centre which in itself will take some time."

Plans for the redevelopment include the creation of a new supermarket, market hall and Premier Inn hotel.