Ice rink and hotel to be built next to Dudley leisure centre

The major development is set to be built in the Flood Street area of Dudley, next to the £18m Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre which opened in January.

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said the authority had been in talks with a "well-known company", with an announcement soon.

A similar development had previously been proposed as part of the £82 million Portersfield scheme, which collapsed last year when the council ended its partnership with developer Avenbury Properties.

The Portersfield scheme, which included the site of the former Cavendish House office block in Trindle Road, would have seen the construction of a 38,000 sq ft ice rink and 347 new homes.

But the council pulled out of the scheme in June last year amid concerns about increased legal and financial risk, and said a new developer was now being sought for the site.

Councillor Harley said the ice rink would now be built on a site next to the leisure centre, and an announcement would soon be made.

"Hopefully within the next few weeks we will be able to announce a well-known company we have been working with to build a new ice rink and hotel in the town," he said.

"Originally this was going to be at Portersfield, but this company now wants to build it on the site opposite the new leisure centre.

"It will also be right opposite the Metro stop, which will be important in bringing people in."

Councillor Harley said increasing the number of leisure facilities in Dudley town centre was crucial to the town's regeneration.

"You have to created the footfall, it's all about bringing people into the town," he said.

"The leisure centre is also very important in that respect. When you have got people coming into the town, the other things will follow."

The Midland Metro tram line, which will run from Brierley Hill to Wednesbury, where it connects with the existing Birmingham -Wolverhampton line, is due to open in 2024.