Plans for 'game changing' ice rink as part of Dudley regeneration take step forward
Plans to build an ice rink in the Black Country have moved a step closer after a council offered terms to its preferred partner.
Leader of Dudley Council, Councillor Patrick Harley, said the council was working with a major national operator to bring a venue to the town.
Councillor Harley said the authority had been given terms for an ‘exclusivity agreement’ to develop the site of the Oakeywell Street car park between the new Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre and Cousins furniture store.
He said the scheme would be a ‘game changer’ in the authority’s plans to regenerate the town, complimenting the planned ‘leisure quarter’ around Stone Street.
Councillor Harley said the ice-rink scheme had been delayed due to a post-Covid backlog.
“We have sent an exclusivity deal offer to the company concerned, and we are now waiting for that to come back,” he said.
“I think it will be a game-changer. With that, and the Hush Property Developments scheme around Stone Street, I think that will encourage retailers to come in and fill in the gaps.”
Councillor Harley said the proposed redevelopment for the site of the former Cavendish House office block was likely to now be focused on housing.
The high-rise office block was demolished three years ago to make way for an £82 million scheme by developer Avenbury, which would have seen new shops, a cinema, bars and restaurants, a gym and student accommodation, creating more than 500 jobs.
But the council ended the a development agreement after the company scaled the scheme back.
Councillor Harley said he no longer wished to see any major retail development on the site, over concerns it could harm trade for existing town centre shops.
