Business plans launched for Wednesbury
Traders are being urged to unite to help improve their area by forming a Business Improvement District.
Business owners in Wednesbury are being asked for their views on the plan, which would see them contribute to pay for improvements to the area.
The idea has been backed by community leaders who say it will regenerate the area.
Traders have been given until June 20 to cast their votes before a decision will be made whether it goes ahead.
Wednesbury North ward councillor Peter Hughes said the project would tie in with other plans to revamp Wednesbury which focus on heritage and transport.
He said: "I think the BID is the only way to prevent further decline to the town.
"The BID will allow us to market Wednesbury, fund events in the town and encourage people to take over empty shop units."
An initial report to gauge the reaction of traders was funded by Sandwell Council.
The feedback from businesses - where more than 250 were surveyed - showed that more than 60 per cent were in favour of a BID being set up.
BIDs are partnerships led by traders to help improve aspects of a town. The groups, which are running by a controlling board, generate funds for community leaders to spend in their towns.
The ballot was launched on Saturday (27).
For the BID to go through, it would need backing from both small businesses and large businesses in the town.
It would tie in with other projects planned for Wednesbury.
Council officers are in current talks with Historic England over funding the regenerate historic buildings.
The funding would be focused in the area of the town around the 19th-century clock tower located on Upper High Street.
This would be to 'take advantage of the architectural heritage' of the town, said cllr Hughes.
"Wednesbury dates back to the Doomsday Book (completed in 1086)," he said.
"We have always had a strong market town. If we roll back the clocks it was an important market town."
Another area of regeneration for the town is the Midland Metro line.
The metro station in Wednesbury is being revamped under plans by the Midland Metro Alliance to extend the tram service to Brierley Hill along the former South Staffordshire Railway line.
"If we roll the clocks forward, Wednesbury will be a major hub," said Councillor Hughes.
"It is already a hub for the metro going from Wednesbury to Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
"In the future the tram will run to Birmingham Airport and Brierley Hill.
"We don't want people to bypass Wednesbury, we want people to see it as a hub."
