The Council’s Cabinet will be asked on Wednesday (28 July) to approve the relocation of its fleet services and meals on wheels operation from its current Culwell Street depot to a new base on Hickman Avenue alongside the city’s wholesale market, which will also undergo a major revamp.
Subject to planning permission and the confirmation of match funding from the Towns Fund, West Midlands Combined Authority and Council, buildings on the Culwell Street site will then be demolished and the land made ready for development in the coming years.
This will enable the future delivery of up to 780 homes across three acres, including the provision for 20 per cent to be affordable homes. It has the potential to generate over 750 new construction jobs.
Ultimately, the aspiration is for Brewers Yard to extend onto two neighbouring sites and provide a total of up to 1,300 homes.
The relocation of fleet services and the meals on wheels operation will create a further 110 construction jobs, reduce the Council’s carbon footprint by 215 tonnes of CO2 and support its programme to deliver a fleet of electric vehicles.
City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Environment and Climate Change, Councillor Steve Evans, said: “This is an important step in delivering Brewers Yard for the City of Wolverhampton – one of the biggest game-changing schemes in the region.
“In the coming years phase one will deliver top-quality living at the heart of our city, with connectivity to state-of-the-art transport facilities.
“It will have easy access to a re-invented city centre providing a great leisure and sporting offer, a vibrant public events programme, outstanding arts and culture offer, and a thriving commercial district with well-paid jobs.
“The proposed relocation of our fleet services and meals on wheels operation will make them more efficient and the redevelopment of the Hickman Avenue site will provide a major uplift to the city’s wholesale market.
“It is all part of £4.4 billion of investment in the City of Wolverhampton that is also delivering jobs and opportunities for local people of all ages.”
Brewers Yard is part of a wider masterplan, which is being developed by Court Collaboration, the city’s development partner on the scheme, and is supported by West Midlands Combined Authority.
Once the land is unlocked for housing it will see a mixture of houses and apartments, and 60,000 sq ft of new retail and commercial space.
The development will also sit just a few hundred metres from the city’s new transport Interchange, providing quick, direct access to Birmingham, London and Manchester.
The expected economic benefit to the City of Wolverhampton from the scheme is £250 million (Gross Development Value).
