Leisure dream becomes reality

It is currently a derelict patch of land off a busy main route in Bilston.But in just over a year, it will be a bustling hive of activity as the site of the town's new £15 million leisure centre.

Diggers, machinery and workers have now rolled on to land off the Black Country Route to begin work and kickstart the £175 million Bilston Urban Village development.

Around 600 tons of steel frame, 7,000 tons of concrete and 150 workers will help make the long-awaited building – the first permanent fixture of the urban vllage – a reality.

It is due to open in 2011 creating 33 full-time jobs and have a futuristic floor-to-ceiling glass frontage, a 25m main swimming pool and a training pool with moveable floor, a creche, play areas and a cafe.

Councillors joined workers from Shepherd Construction on the site, off Bankfield Road, yesterday, where diggers were starting to scrape away layers of top soil.

Councillor Matt Holdcroft, Wolverhampton City Council's cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: "This is fantastic news for Bilston."