Last week's (Thursday 12 December) Wednesbury Levelling Up Partnership revealed the progess made on what is an incredibly ambitious programme with more to follow in the coming year.
Achievements over the last year include:
• The installation of 26 new / improved CCTV cameras and eight deployable cameras across Wednesbury and Friar Park, which have already assisted in arrests linked to thefts and burglaries.
• The installation of new nuisance bike measures in six locations to help deter nuisance bike activity.
• The agreement of a Masterplan for Wednesbury Town Centre which forms a vision for the Town and will guide future development.
• The completion of work in two green spaces with new planting and new paths. There is also current work at Balls Hill Open space to install new play equipment and to upgrade paths.
• The start of public realm work in Wednesbury Town Centre with new paving, lighting, furniture and planting currently being installed..
In addition, plans for next year include:
• The start on site and completion of Millennium Centre improvements.
• The completion of public realm work in Wednesbury Town Centre
• The start on site for the Friar Park Urban Village Land Remediation, which is the largest brownfield land remediation project in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Councillor Peter Hughes, Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Infrastructure, said:
“A significant amount of the Wednesbury Levelling Up Partnership programme will be delivered by March 2025. This includes our community safety project, several green spaces projects and most of the public realm and urban greening work. We have also launched a new masterplan for Wednesbury town centre.
“This is a large-scale programme with an extremely ambitious 18-month timeline to deliver on £20m investment. Other government funded programmes usually have a much longer window to deliver the scheme. I am pleased that the Council has been able to put arrangements in place so that we can continue to deliver the programme next year.
Maria Jardine, Board Chair of the Wednesbury Levelling Up Partnership, continued:
“This programme is bringing major improvements for the people of Wednesbury and kick-starting the regeneration of the town, and we are proud of what we are achieving in such a short space of time by working in partnership with the government and Sandwell Council.”