Funding sought for ‘health village’ and brownfield land
Funding bids for two major development programmes in Wolverhampton have been submitted in round two of the government’s Levelling Up programme.
Council bosses are hoping to secure cash for the Bilston Health and Regeneration Programme and Springfield Innovation Hub.
The latest bids follow the city’s success in securing £20 million in round one to facilitate the progression of the new learning quarter project.
To date, the government has awarded a total of £1.7 billion from the £4.8 billion national pot since the Levelling Up agenda was announced in 2019. This leaves £3.1 billion unallocated for future rounds.
In a report to the council’s cabinet resources panel, regeneration manager Zareena Ahmed-Shere said: “The Bilston programme comprises two distinct but inter-related elements, and £16.3 million is being sought towards the total project cost of £25 million for a new health and wellbeing hub. This will form an extension to the existing Bert Williams Leisure Centre.
“Our proposal is to create a completely integrated health/leisure/social care facility involving a number of partners including GPs, the Primary Care Trust, Care Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Royal Wolverhampton Trust.
“The vision for the hub is to create a health, care and wellbeing village in the heart of the Bilston community that nurtures the integration of the NHS, social care, wellbeing and leisure services to create a campus that empowers everyone to take ownership/control of their own health, to live longer, healthier and more active lives.
“Because of its scale and complexity and given the number of partners involved, the Bilston programme will be the subject of a separate report to cabinet where detail of the proposals – including the financial model and legal structures – are set out in more detail,” she added.
“Bilston markets are at the heart of the town centre and drive significant footfall throughout it. A successful Town Fund bid secured £5.2 million for improvements to be made to the markets – particularly the outdoor market – although this fell short of the original bid of £7.7 million.
“Works already funded include a new prominent canopy over part of the outdoor market area, the demolition and re-provision of public toilets, improvements to the entrances to the indoor market and work on branding and signage.
“Springfield Innovation Hub will regenerate 1.21 hectares of brownfield land, producing 4,955 square metres of new commercial workspace and creating 330 jobs. It will be delivered in partnership with the private sector and will support new business start-ups and scale-ups in high-value manufacturing, green technologies and digital innovation,” said Ms Ahmed Shere.
“The Springfield Campus site has had all possibilities of risk eliminated through remediation and work to create pre-serviced plots ready for delivery.”
The council’s cabinet resources panel will discuss the bids next Wednesday.
