Traders fear High Street revamp will force shops to close as work turns customers away

The pavements have been ripped up along Brierley Hill High Street as part of a £5 million makeover of the town centre.

The full scheme to include re-surfaced car parks, new pavements, seating, tree planting, better toilet facilities and a spruced up library is not expected to be finished until spring 2024.

But some traders say they may not still be there to see the revamp come to fruition as they have already lost half their business due to the chaos on their doorstep.

Mustafa Qadr, of Brierley Hill Carpets, said: “We have been struggling and while I am trying my best, if we don’t get the right number of customers in over the next two months, it might be difficult to go on. I think we have lost close to 50 per cent of our customers, with the one way system being a big part of that, plus people struggling to find somewhere to park.”

Smart Simple Repairs owner Wayne Lewis said it was making the high street feel like a ‘ghost town’.

He said: “We’ve taken a massive hit from this and it is really quiet outside, like you could hear a mouse running up and down, and it’s not just affected me, but a lot of other businesses as nobody wants to come to Brierley Hill at the moment. If this goes on, I will be able to continue running as I have money and assets behind me, but a lot of other businesses won’t be able to as they don’t have that backing.”

Adam Hamad, who owns Adam’s Carpets, said: “We have a coffee shop, a cafe and another shop around us and they are all reporting less people that before and our biggest problem is we have nowhere for the delivery trucks to go and no space for them to park.

“It stops the big lorries coming in and it’s been a really bad situation for us as we have lost a lot of business because of it and the problem is that when they stop doing this side, they’ll start doing the other side of the road.

“I think it’s been a big waste of money by the council as they could have been using this money for charity or housing or something else.”

Councillor Adam Davies, who represents Brierley Hill, said: “A certain level of disruption is of course inevitable while such a major scheme is under way, but I’ve been speaking with traders most days to check how things are going on the ground, and it’s good to hear how the construction teams have been working with them to keep things running as smoothly as possible.Council car parks behind the market on Little Cottage Street and on Level Street have now been fully resurfaced, something I’ve been pushing on for some time.

“And as further improvements unfold – including the refurbishment of the library and public toilets – we really want to encourage shoppers to continue supporting our fantastic traders and small businesses.”

Works have seen the removal of existing kerbs and paving in preparation for new street paving, starting on Market Hall and the Farmfoods site.

It is expected the street paving works on this side of the street will be finished by June this year, before work will shift to the Moor Street side of the High Street.

It is believed works to the public toilets and the Brierley Hill Library will be started during this time.

Clearance and excavation works will start to allow for new paving works to the footway on the Moor Street side, parking bays and the planting of trees. It is expected to be finished by November.

While the works above are taking place, as well as after November 2023, Additional improvement works will also be carried out at the Civic Hall Green, Cottage Street and the High Street / Venture Way junction.

Bosses are planning to complete all the improvement works fully completed by spring 2024. These dates are for guidance only as works can sometimes be delayed due to unknown or unforeseen circumstances.

There will also be improvements to the area around the Brier Rose sculpture and the locally listed drinking fountain, as well as at St Mary’s Church.