£500m development vision for Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton could be looking at development work worth around £500 million across the city over the coming years, a senior council officers says.

With a string of sites ready and waiting for developers and others in early stages of preparation, the city is aiming to build on the £1 billion of development it has seen over the past three years.

From the city centre Southside site to Bilston urban village and an assortment of small plots of land currently for sale, the council is sitting on a potential treasure trove of development land.

City council strategic director Tim Johnson said: "There are probably £500 million of schemes that I am aware of.

"They range from some that are close to fruition to others that are in the very early stages of discussions."

"Much of the development in recent years has been funded from the public sector," he added. "Given the current market, we expect it to be much more private sector funded in the future."

Mr Johnson was speaking at a major development conference held at Molineux as part of Wolverhampton Business Week, which attracted a full-house of delegates from businesses including housebuilders, property companies and construction firms.

He outlined the major projects seen in the city over recent years, including the £500m Jaguar Land Rover engine plant on i54, £300m spent on schools, the University of Wolverhampton's £50m building programme in the city centre and the £60m new Sainsbury's store.

Mr Johnson said the council was keen to work with developers so sites could be brought into use, telling delegates: "I hope you get a real sense of our ambition and our passion to make things happen."

He said the council wanted to hear what it could do to make it simpler and quicker for developments to take place.

And he said the authority's success in persuading online sports equipment firm Wiggle to move to the Citadel building in Bilston, from its home in Portsmouth, was "a really excellent example of our approach."

Contacted 'almost out of the blue' by agents for the site developer the council had put together a 'compelling package' of financial incentives, access to grants and support with recruitment to persuade Wiggle to make the move, bringing hundreds of jobs to the area.

Speaking later, Mr Johnsons said he had also recently been to London to meet with potential investors from a series of major pension funds. "The response has been really positive," he said.

And he said the newly unveiled council-funded Interchange 10 development by the bus and railway stations was "a statement of intent, that we are preparted to invest to make things happen."