Town to get 'intense clean up' in £20m revamp plan

A £20 million pound scheme to boost a town in Wolverhampton has been approved by the council.

The money will be used to improve Bilston by cleaning up the high street, revamping parks and green spaces and upping security measures such as CCTV over the next 10 years.

The City of Wolverhampton Council put together the regeneration plan after speaking with more than 1,000 locals.

The consultation found that people valued Bilston's "strong community spirit, friendly atmosphere, market heritage, and good transport links" but wanted to see the town cleaner, safer, and more vibrant with better shops, parks, lighting, and community spaces.

A return of Bilston Carnival - for the first time since 2008 - is included within the first phase of the plans as well as an "intense clean up" of Bilston High Street including improvements to lighting, new benches, CCTV, new public art and bollards.

A "pride in place" board, made up of local community, business and public sector representatives, will be the main decision-making body for the scheme and it has pledged to focus on creating a "safer, cleaner and vibrant" Bilston and ensure young people are "actively involved in shaping the town's future".

The project would also see investment in community hubs, local heritage, arts and events across all age groups and backgrounds.

Andrew Pecincu-Holban, a student at Bilston's Ormiston SWB Academy, was among those members of Wolverhampton's youth council addressing the council meeting on February 18 when plans were approved.

"I feel immense pride for being part of the [project]," he said. "I feel Bilston is a place of community where people are able to gather and share all types of opinions, from the market, to the Lunt, to the actual carnival which is hopefully returning in the future."

Chris Burden, a Labour councillor for Fallings Park, said with ongoing and planned improvements, it was an "exciting time to be in Bilston".

A new £20m health and wellbeing hub is also set to be built in Bilston, next to the town's Bert Williams Leisure Centre and £9m improvements to the town's market are set to finally be completed in the summer after months of delays.

Work also continues on the £28m Foundry Business Park, which includes 15 new units.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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