2,770 jobs on way with Kidderminster link road project

It includes hundreds of construction jobs during the building of the Hoobrook route.

Work has begun on the first stage of the link road which runs from Stourport Road to the 74-acre former British Sugar factory site.

The second phase will see the route extended to Worcester Road. The total cost of the project is estimated as £12.4m.

A planning application for the second phase of the road will be considered by councillors at a meeting next week.

A report by planning officer Julie Mellor reveals the jobs hopes with positions expected to be created through the construction of a business park and housing estate on the site.

The site, off Stourport Road, has been earmarked for 250 homes along with a hotel, railway station, business units, a restaurant, care home and creche.

Worcestershire County Council is seeking approval for the second phase of the scheme and a decision will be made at a meeting next week. Council bosses say the scheme will help to reduce traffic queues around the town centre

County councillor John Campion, who is also leader of Wyre Forest District Council, said: "This road scheme is a fantastic example of local government working together to respond to local needs."

Councillor Simon Geraghty, deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: "Phase Two of the Hoobrook Link Road is of huge importance not only for Kidderminster and Wyre Forest district, but also for the success of Worcestershire as this is the location of one of our four key employment sites across the county."

The scheme has been allocated £4.9 million from the Government's Local Pinch Point Funding, designed to help remove congestion in town centres. Further funding of £2.5 million has come from the Worcestershire Local Transport Body and a further £2.5 million is expected from the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Transport Board.

Developers and Wyre Forest District Council have also contributed £1 million to the scheme and the shortfall is expected to be met by county council grant funding.

The road is expected to take about 12 months to construct and if planning permission is granted work is expected to start this December with a view to opening early in 2016.

Planners say it will also help visitors to the town who are travelling to tourist attractions such as the Severn Valley Railway.

Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier has previously welcomed the link road, saying: "The benefit will not only be seen by businesses either already based in south Kidderminster, or seeking to locate there, but also by residents who will see benefits as congestion will be relieved around the Brinton Park bottleneck in Kidderminster. Stourport will also see improvements as traffic will be able to find alter native routes out of the area, bypassing the Gilgal bottleneck."

St Francis has demolished the former sugar beet processing and production facility for the Silverwoods scheme.