Wolverhampton has been 'failed' over Westside delays
COUNCIL bosses have come under fire for failing to attract businesses to a £55-million development.
Opposition councillors have demanded answers from the Labour-led Wolverhampton Council over repeated delays to the major Westside scheme.
Residents have been ‘let down’ by the council’s failure to entice leading companies to invest in the 6.4 acre-development, Conservative councillors claim.
It comes after the authority admitted it was forced to put work back at least six months despite plans to start in the summer.
Councillor Jonathan Yardley, Conservative councillor for Tettenhall Regis, said: “We have repeatedly asked the Labour council to explain what they are doing to kickstart the much-needed Westside development.
“The problem has been a complete failure to attract private businesses to the city centre. The fact is that Labour councillors have turned a blind eye to private investment in the city.”
Work on land between Penn Road Island and Salop Street was set to start in the summer after the relocation of the city centre’s market.
Philip Leech, development director for developer Urban and Civic, said: “We have always been confident in Wolverhampton as a city centre and believe the Westside scheme will bring much-needed leisure facilities to it.
“In the current economic climate there are challenges in bringing forward leisure developments, however, we are at an advanced stage of negotiations with a major international cinema brand as well as other well-known leisure outlets.
“We remain firmly committed to working closely with the council to bring forward the Westside scheme.”
Wolverhampton Council cabinet member for city economy, Councillor John Reynolds, said: “By their very nature complex projects like Westside often take longer than hoped to get started on site. It is a familiar story on schemes of this nature up and down the country.
“From day one, Urban and Civic has been the only developer involved in the Westside project and we know they are hugely committed to delivering this scheme for people in the City of Wolverhampton and beyond.”
The Tory councillors are now calling for the council to reduce business rates and bring in free parking in the city centre to attract more companies to invest in Wolverhampton.
Councillor Yardley, who is a member of the council’s city economy scrutiny board, added: “There is no incentive for companies to operate in Wolverhampton, and this is replicated by the huge number of empty shops on the high street.
Wolverhampton residents have once again been let down, and we will continue to fight for reduced business rates and free car parking in the town centre to ensure it gets under way.”
Heantun House and the former Indoor Market was demolished to make way for the leisure-led project, which will include a cinema a 100-plus bed hotel and restaurants covering 40,000 square feet.
More than 300 homes as well as 50,000 square feet of retail and leisure space are earmarked for the second phase of the project – which will be built on land between Salop Street and Darlington Street, including the Fold Street car park.
