Multi-million plans to regenerate Wolverhampton housing estate delayed
Multi-million pound plans to regenerate a Wolverhampton housing estate have ground to a halt after only one developer has applied to transform the site.
The proposal for Heath Town first came to light last July, when the council spent £5 million to demolish the most run-down areas of the estate.
The demolition marked what the council hoped would be the start of the transformation of the area, opening the site up to developers to apply to take over the land.
Now, it has been revealed that the process to secure a developer has ground to a halt after only one developer applied to take the site on.
Usually, in order to secure a developer, the council must receive an application from more than one company to whittle down competitors to find a winner. As only one company has applied to take the site on, the process cannot continue.
The council has now drafted a range of alternative proposals which will see the regeneration take four to five years.
The reasons behind all but one developer withdrawing is stated as "property values in this locality do not support the potential risks associated with a scheme of this size on a brownfield site."
Milkinderpal Jaspal, Labour councillor for Heath Town, said: "There's a lot of good things in the report and I welcome the plans and I say get on and deliver it. At the end of the day, these developers are interested in making money, and if there's not guarantee of that happening, then they won't invest. That's the bottom line."
