Wolverhampton's Westside development hit by coronavirus delay woes
The £55 million Westside scheme has been delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown – but bosses are adamant that work will start later this year.
The landmark project is seen as the lynchpin of the city’s future plans. It will cover the sprawling plot from the Penn Road Island to Salop Street, and feature a huge cinema, mini golf, 10-pin bowling, a multi-storey car park and restaurants.
Workers were due on site in August, but Wolverhampton Council leader Ian Brookfield said the coronavirus lockdown meant that work was unlikely to start until November at the earliest.
“I think everyone will realise that because of what we are going through, there is going to be a natural delay of around three to four months,” he said.
Councillor Brookfield revealed the council had been in further talks with Odeon, the cinema chain at the centre of the scheme, which is bringing its Luxe brand to the city.
And he said the firm was confident of its future plans due to the probability of leisure becoming a more central factor in people’s lives in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The cinema chain feel, like us, that there is going to be a change in the economy and leisure is going to become more and more important,” Councillor Brookfield said.
“We could be looking at a 10 year period where people have more leisure time on their hands which will obviously be good for the Westside.”
The scheme is bring run by developers Urban & Civic and will also feature a pedestrianised walkway through the city centre.
It is one of a number of developments that council bosses hope will lead to a resurgence in the Wolverhampton’s fortunes.
They include a £150 million upgrade of the city’s railway station, the first stage of which opened last month. It is on course to be finished by early 2021.
Councillor Brookfield said there is more than £4.4 billion of investment “on site or in the pipeline” across the city.
