Skip to content

Plans to improve urban garden given go-ahead

Andrew DawkinsWest Midlands
City of Wolverhampton Council A floral archway leads into a paved area with a circular planted area with trees either side.City of Wolverhampton Council
The Urban Garden is a space at Stafford Street connecting to Church Street, with this computer-generated image showing what it could look like from the former

Plans to improve a public open space in a West Midlands town centre have been approved.

Outlines for the Urban Garden connecting Stafford Street and Church Street in Bilston, Wolverhampton, include a raised oval-shaped area of grassland and a large tree, the city council said.

Changes to the area will feature improved paving, "refreshed tree and shrub planting and upgrades to seating and street furniture to create a more welcoming environment", it added.

A contractor will be appointed by early next year to carry out the works.

The Urban Garden project proposals would improve "the appearance, quality, safety, and usability" of the space, while keeping its layout, the council said.

The space has two sections next to each other, with one of them near Church Street being an open paved square with the large tree.

The other by Stafford Street includes the oval-shaped area, paths, landscaped beds, shrubs and seating areas.

City of Wolverhampton Council People walk along the street and in a paved area which has a bench, bollards and trees within it on this computer-generated image. Buildings are on the far left and far right and in the background behind a large tree.City of Wolverhampton Council
Residents opinions had helped shape the design for the space, seen above in terms of how it could appear from Church Street, the council said

The planning application was submitted after public consultation, with residents and business communities helping to shape the final design, the council said.

The project was part of the Bilston Health & Regeneration Programme, supported by government money, which "aims to integrate health, leisure and community infrastructure" in the town centre, the authority added.

City of Wolverhampton Council Leader, Stephen Simkins, said planning approval for the Urban Garden upgrades meant it could "now start moving towards the business end of delivering these improvements".

"Major investment is being made in Bilston with a number of projects set to transform the town centre," he added.

The Urban Garden scheme "builds on the recent opening" of the new Bilston outdoor market as part of ongoing investment in the town, the council said.

It added that investment also included improving the Black Country Route public realm, construction of a new health and wellbeing facility next to the leisure centre and the £20m Pride in Place programme.

The council was working with residents on that initiative "to spend on projects to boost the town, such as the return of Bilston Carnival in July".

Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

More on this story
Related internet links