Wolverhampton City Council and

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)

LOCAL INVESTMENT PLAN July 2010-2014

August 2010

Making it happen in Wolverhampton CONTENTS

CONTEXT

Introduction to the Local Investment Plan 3

Wolverhampton’s vision 3

Local context and challenges 4

Strategic context 8

PRIORITIES

City-wide thematic priorities 15

Thematic housing priorities 29

Spatial priorities 34

Shared principles of investment 37

Continued engagement 38

Monitoring and review 39

Governance 39

Appendix A: Progress in achieving Wolverhampton’s vision 41

Appendix B: City wide evidence base – Picture of Wolverhampton 42

Appendix C: List of LSOA areas (deprived) 47

Appendix D: Groupings of 10% most Deprived Neighbourhoods 49

Appendix E: WDC Priority Projects across the city 50

Appendix F: The six spatial priorities 51

Appendix G: Prioritising the spatial priorities 72

2

CONTEXT 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE LOCAL INVESTMENT PLAN

The Wolverhampton Local Investment Plan 2010-14 (LIP) has been developed in partnership between Wolverhampton City Council (WCC) and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Its role is to set out how these two organisations will work together and with other public and private sector partners during the plan period to help deliver Wolverhampton’s long term vision, which has a significant emphasis on increasing economic prosperity. Whilst the plan initially focuses on investment over the next 3 years, the LIP is designed to be flexible to take into account changing policy direction over a longer 15 year horizon.

The plan sets out how WCC and partners will work together through agreed thematic and spatial priorities for regeneration and housing. In addition it also focuses on how partners will work together on a whole area approach to investing capital and revenue and to delivering improvements to services within communities – in line with the government’s Total Place / Total Capital agendas. This will involve integrating investment streams, including housing, health, transport, education and employment. This strategic alignment of funding streams will support ‘place making’; in which interventions are coordinated and integrated and together contribute to a vision for the whole City.

The key areas covered by the Wolverhampton LIP are:

The vision and wider strategic context for the investment decisions in housing and regeneration Thematic priorities that reflect Wolverhampton’s Sustainable Community Strategy. Spatial priorities derived from extensive research where investment for housing regeneration and growth will be targeted. Previous, current and planned investment across a range of public sector organisations. Defining the principles of co-investment between the HCA and WCC. Governance arrangements Plan for continued engagement Monitoring and review.

2. WOLVERHAMPTON’S VISION

This Local Investment Plan will form part of the delivery mechanism for Wolverhampton’s Sustainable Communities Strategy. In building this vision for the City, the Wolverhampton Partnership (the LSP) recognised the significance of economic competitiveness in driving other desirable outcomes for the City, so that

“By 2026, Wolverhampton will be a City where people can thrive. The economy is transformed and the gap in health, wealth and prosperity between communities and neighbourhoods in the City is substantially reduced. Wolverhampton is a place with safe, strong, diverse and popular neighbourhoods; a place where everyone has an improved quality of life and the chance to reach his or her full

3

potential and where the benefits of the City’s growth are widely shared.”

To increase the City’s economic competitiveness this vision has been distilled into 3 strategic regeneration objectives. These are:

Firstly to develop the City’s Human Capital by building on the strong culture of listening to residents and to continue to ensure Wolverhampton’s people prepare themselves for future employment opportunities. Secondly the City is prioritising a number of large scale projects with the aim to transform the city and create the conditions for enterprise to flourish. Thirdly to ensure a prosperous future and to attract and retain people the City aims to significantly improve the City’s quality of place and residential offer.

Significant progress has already been made towards realising this vision, some elements of which are provided in Appendix A.

To achieve Wolverhampton’s ambitious transformational plans, local partners established the Wolverhampton Development Company in 2008 which provides opportunities to attract new businesses to the city and in doing so create sustainable economic growth. WDC cannot tackle everything at once and has therefore targeted the City Centre, Stafford road corridor and the new deal area in Blakenhall and All Saints known as ABCD. WDC has identified 13 key strategic projects. A full list can be seen in Appendix E. Progress to date on 3 of the major schemes is:

Interchange Following receipt of approval in principle for Interchange Phase 1 (the Bus Station Redevelopment) start on site for the main works contract was made in January 2010.

i 54 A planning application has been submitted to allow an increase in the amount of floor space permitted in the first phase of development at the site from 15,000 sq metres to 50,000 square metres. Permission has been granted subject to conditions and a S106 agreement

City Gate Outline planning permission has been granted for a scheme involving a 60 room hotel, conference facilities, restaurants, a nursery and managed workspace at an existing warehouse on the Stafford Rd. This scheme includes a proposal for 450 new jobs.

3. LOCAL CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES

Wolverhampton is the largest of the 4 local authorities that make up the Black Country, having a population of 236,400. It lies to the North West of Birmingham. The City centre is located 7 miles from the major motorway network to the north and the city’s railway station is served by the West Coast Main Line and has regular rail services to London, Birmingham and Manchester. The Midland metro connects Wolverhampton and Birmingham City centres.

After many years in decline the population of the city has started to increase. The proportion of younger and older people is also continuing to rise which could cause demographic polarisation. In terms of diversity there are approximately 36,000 people of Asian origin and 12,000 people of African-Caribbean origin living in the city. Significantly 27% of all under 19 year olds are from BME communities. There are 4

growing numbers of people from the new EEC countries settling in the City and there is already a significant and well established Polish community. Wolverhampton has an increasingly aging population with 21.7% of the population being retired. However the 45–64 age group is forecast to increase by 4,000 people (7.3%) and the 65+ age group by 8,900 people (22.1%) in 2026.

Economically, Wolverhampton has had mixed fortunes. It is currently in the process of a structural transformation – from a once prosperous industrial city to a modern mixed economy. The collapse of the traditional manufacturing sector over the last 25 years has taken its toll and it has not yet developed a critical mass of modern, high- value added wealth creating activities. The growth in non-revenue generating public sector services has not balanced the equation.

Traditionally, Wolverhampton's economy was dominated by engineering and manufacturing industries. However by 2008, 74.9% of the city's employment was in the service sector. The major subcomponents of this sector are in public administration, education and health (32.8% of the total employment), while distribution, hotels and restaurants take up 21.1%, and finance and IT takes up 12.7%. The largest non-service industry is that of manufacturing (12.9%), whilst 5.2% of the total employment is related to the tourism industry. Wolverhampton University is now one of the largest universities in the country and nearly 50% of the 23,000 students are local people.

Wolverhampton was ranked 28 out of 354 Local Authority Districts (with 1 being the most deprived) in 2007, having slipped from 35 in 2004. It has two Super Output Areas (SOA) within most deprived 1% in the country, and 15 in the top 5%. This demonstrates the need for significant intervention, strengthening the argument for intelligent investment to support economic growth and reduce deprivation in the City.

Wolverhampton has a working population of 138,500. Of this figure, 68.7% of the population are classified as ‘Economically Active’, (West Midlands equivalent is 72.9%). Wolverhampton suffers from problems of relative high rates of unemployment - 11.3% compared to the UK average of 6.9% and the West Midlands average of 8.6% - which has increased through the recession. However the City wide unemployment rate also hides pockets of severe deprivation, the five wards with the highest unemployment levels are Heath Town, Ettingshall, St Peters , Low Hill and Blakenhall who account for 26.5% of the City’s population but 40.5% of unemployment claimants. In addition the Wolverhampton City employment strategy has suggested that whilst there will be some employment growth in the service sector, employment is predicted to contract further due to over reliance of the economy on those sectors where employment is set to fall.

Alongside the challenge to achieve significant economic growth in Wolverhampton where high unemployment and low activity rates exist, other key issues that have been raised through the City’s employment strategy are:

Low levels of educational attainment in the workforce are putting off business investment. 25% of the working age population have no qualifications. High Levels of benefits. 36% of households are in receipt of housing /council tax benefit in 2009. 7% increase on the previous year. One in ten children is growing up in households where nobody has ever worked. Low levels of earnings

5

Attracting and retaining Talent – trend of out migration from the City of high achieving young people

Wolverhampton’s population suffers from poorer health than many areas of the country. Though it has increased slightly in recent years, life expectancy remains well below the national average and varies across the City. The mortality gap between the worst and best neighbourhoods is 7 years for men and 5 for women. The LIP recognises this inequality and through the prioritisation of renewal areas will look to support healthy neighbourhoods by delivering healthier homes for the people of Wolverhampton.

In addition to the evidence provided above, the HCA and WCC commissioned Broadway Malyan in 2008 to investigate priority areas for intervention. In developing their conclusions, the consultants provided a large evidence base looking at city wide deprivation, occurrence of social housing, environmental conditions, worklessness, health, income, crime and educational attainment. Appendix B shows the locations within the city where these issues are most prevalent.

The results showed that Wolverhampton has 38 SOA’s in the top 10% most deprived in the country. A list of these SOA’s and associated wider neighbourhoods can be seen in Appendix C. A clear link was made between these wards and the prevalence of social housing in that all wards contained in excess of 50% social housing. The majority of the most deprived SOA’s can be grouped into pockets of neighbourhood deprivation. The plan in Appendix D demonstrates these groupings. In summary the neighbourhoods identified as those in most need of intervention are:

Heath Town Bilston Blakenhall and All Saints Whitmore Reans

Housing challenges

There are currently around 104,000 dwellings in the City. Of these, 75,900 are private dwellings - 65,000 are owner occupied and 10,900 are privately rented. Of the remaining, 21,700 homes are owned by the Council and managed by Wolverhampton Homes (The City’s ALMO), 2,080 are owned by the Council and managed by Tenant Management Organisations and the remaining 4,320 are rented from Housing Associations (HA). The significant HA’s working in Wolverhampton are: Midland Heart, Accord, Bromford and Heantun.

Local demographics are continually changing; the table below demonstrates the projection of Wolverhampton population growth.

Population Projections Change Change All Ages (Thousands) (Thousands) (%) 2008 2018 2033 2018 2033 2018 2033 England 51,464.60 55,252.20 60,715.20 3,787.60 9,250.60 7.4% 18.0% West Midlands 5,408.40 5,689.30 6,113.50 280.90 705.10 5.2% 13.0% (GOR) Wolverhampton 238.10 246.00 259.5 7.90 21.40 3.3% 9.0%

6

Wolverhampton’s population is expected to grow by 9% to 2459,500 by 2033, while household sizes are anticipated to decrease, leading to an overall increase in the number of 12-13,000 households.. Over occupation is generally high with 4.6 % experiencing over crowding compared to the national average level of 3.5%. Therefore there is scope for better matching larger households as around 15% of council owned homes are under occupied. Although the population increases are not as sharp as the either national or West Midlands averages, it will however continue to put pressure on the existing housing stock in Wolverhampton and demonstrates the need for new development.

A substantial proportion of the population growth In Wolverhampton is due to the continuous increase in both numbers and rates of the population of state retirement age and over. The latest Subnational Population Projections for Wolverhampton show that this group will rise from 46,300 in 2008 to 61,300 in 2033. This is a net gain of 15,000 people in 25 years and makes it the fastest growing broad age group in Wolverhampton (32.4% growth). According to the projections, which maintain the current age of retirement throughout for consistency, people of retirement age will make up just under a quarter of the total population (23.62%) in 2033

Wolverhampton’s population is also ethnically diverse, however BME groups tend to occupy in a small number of neighbourhoods rather than dispersed across the city. The BME population of All Saints is 57.4% while neighbouring Blakenhall it is 62.3%. Whitmore Reans is one of the city’s most ethnically diverse areas, with over 51.6% of residents being from a BME group, this area also has large numbers of Polish, Ukrainian and Italian communities. The Heath Town estate developed following the slum clearances in the sixties has a significant black community (22.9%). All of these areas have been identified as priority spatial areas for interventions and future investment. Issues of housing types, tenure, ethnicity and community cohesion will, therefore need to be considered as an integral element of the regeneration proposals that are worked up in these areas.

Household economics are also a challenge for Wolverhampton, 50% of Wolverhampton households receive financial support while incomes are lower than the national average. Although average house prices, currently at 108K are lower than the regional average, affordability remains an issue with the average house price being 5.1 times the average household income. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2009 confirms that the annual medium pay in Wolverhampton of £21,750 is 9.2% lower than the West Midlands average which is £23,950. The chart below demonstrates the income distribution amongst different age groups within Wolverhampton and shows that for first time buyers almost 50% have household incomes of less than £20,000 which makes savings for a large house deposit challenging.

Lower rates of pay, combined with mortgage availability and the requirement for large deposits means accessibility to owner occupation remains a challenge. The chart below demonstrates the proportions of the population in various tenures who can access market sale homes in Wolverhampton. This shows that depending on age between only 40% and 60% in private rented accommodation can access market sale housing. The requirement for larger deposits means that some people who are

7

currently owner occupiers would now find it difficult to access the Wolverhampton market.

Wolverhampton

100

90

80

70 Social Rent 60 Private Rent

50 Homeowner

40

30

20 Percentage of households Percentage that afford can LQ home 10

0 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Age Group

Housing condition across all tenures remains a challenge for Wolverhampton, 24,720 dwellings (32.6%) can be classified non decent, which is above the level in England (30.2%) as a whole. Privately rented dwellings have the highest rate of non decency at 44%. The majority of non decent homes are found in the All Saints and Blakenhall New Deal for Communities area of the City. Non decent dwellings are most associated with pre-1919 terraced property in private ownership. Wolverhampton Homes are delivering the Decent Homes programme in the social housing sector. The capital funding to deliver the programme by 2012/13 is £413m to which the HCA is contributing £288.2m. However due to shortfalls in WCC’s capital funding programme a funding gap of £47m has been identified which Wolverhampton Homes (WH) are partially addressing through cost and efficiency savings.

In addition to the challenge of non decent living conditions, the environmental impact of the current stock is also a huge issue for all Local Authorities to tackle. It is estimated that 25% of all the UK’s carbon emissions can be attributed to the housing stock. The HCA and WCC recognise the criticality of this issue and will be looking to address this through the LIP

The City has an abundance of empty property; this is most common amongst the private ownership sector. There are around 2,600 long term empty properties in the City with around 1,850 in private ownership. Many of the properties have been empty for several years and require significant investment, whilst there are some that can be more readily brought back into use. Empty private properties are found across the whole of the City, with higher concentrations in areas of over supply of poorly managed private rented sector stock: typically, Park Village, All Saints and Whitmore Reans. There are also high numbers of new build empty flats in and around the City centre. WH and WCC are piloting a small retrofit programme in the All Saints area which is bringing back empty properties into use by upgrading their environmental sustainability and energy consumption levels. The HCA and WCC will 8

be working together to expand this pilot further across the city to bring more homes back into use while substantially lowering their environmental impact.

Homelessness has been a significant problem in Wolverhampton and although it is now at its lowest level for 5 years, which is a result of many successful prevention measures, there is however a concern that due to the recession, rates could increase and pressure on services will increase. The cause of homelessness in 08/09 was mainly as a result of domestic violence, end of short hold assured tenancy and where parents were unable or unwilling to accommodate. WCC have identified a need for more treatment-based and specialist hostel type accommodation in the city to support between 20 and 30 individuals at any one time and move on accommodation for those who have previously been homeless.

Challenges to housing delivery

There are many challenges to delivering new housing In Wolverhampton at the present time. The effects of the credit crunch and recession – many of which continue – are covered in detail in Wolverhampton’s Housing Strategy.

One particular issue is the difficulty in achieving the anticipated numbers of affordable homes through section 106 agreements. The viability of sites varies considerably and depends on land, construction and site assembly costs. Some developers are having difficulty obtaining the necessary finance for schemes, and are looking to negotiate down the amount of affordable housing they provide through planning obligations.

Wolverhampton is taking a flexible approach, renegotiating s106 agreements on a case by case basis and only following a viability assessment approved by the District Valuer. In most instances, in the interests of maintaining development momentum, it has been necessary to make compromises either on quality, type of home or on the number of homes. In a few cases, a commuted sum has been raised and invested elsewhere in affordable homes.

Like many areas in the Black Country the legacy of past industrial land use makes it economically hard to deliver new housing in a time when resources are tight. The release of publically owned surplus land is therefore a priority to enable the housing offer required to meet the challenges in Wolverhampton. The HCA and WCC will be working together to ensure land is brought forward to enable development to take place.

Like many areas across the England, the recession and the challenges listed above have affected housing supply greatly from a peak supply of 610 starts on site in 2008, delivery dropped to 160 in 2009. While completions dropped from 470 to 220 during this period.

4. STRATEGIC CONTEXT

Raising economic prosperity for people living in the City and in the Black Country is Wolverhampton’s primary task. It is recognised that many of the City’s problems

9

relate to the relatively poor state of the economy and would be lessened if the economy was stronger. The entire strategic context – embracing regional, sub regional and local levels – is concerned with elements of this task and is also punctuated by goals that support economic growth.

Uncoordinated intervention will not achieve this primary goal, so the Council, the HCA and other partners are committed to coordinating their investment and effort across all the Council’s programmes over many years. This is the essence of Total Capital, Total Place and Place Making.

4.1 REGIONAL STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The Queens Speech 2010 contained an announcement for a Decentralisation and Localism Bill that will abolish Regional Spatial Strategies, along with Regional Housing Targets. The Regional Development Agencies will be phased out and consequently the Single Integrated Regional Strategies are unlikely to be produced.

However, the process for deciding where and how to intervene in Wolverhampton involved a significant focus on the regional spatial level, and looked at the contribution that investment in the City might make to the region as a whole. Taken together, the existing Regional Economic Strategy, Regional Spatial Strategy, and Regional Transport Strategy contain some broad goals for the region, some of which relate specifically to Wolverhampton. The chief overarching long-term goal is to achieve an urban renaissance that can benefit the City, its urban and rural hinterland and the West Midlands region as a whole. This will be economic-led and will require a number of diverse plans and programmes to develop together and is likely to take at least 20 years to achieve.

Breaking it down, the regional strategies together set out the following core outcomes that will lead to such an urban and economic renaissance.

reversing net outward migration and securing population growth facilitating a shift to the knowledge economy and creating competitive businesses increasing job opportunities and skills and developing the workforce and raising income levels (in line with national incomes) accommodating a more balanced population creating a high quality sustainable environment create an inclusive and cohesive society

The Regional Funding Advice (RFA) 2009 contains three, region wide, strategic priorities: Sustaining and strengthening the West Midlands’ economy; Delivering urban and rural renaissance –including housing growth and provision of affordable homes; Expanding skills and employment

The RFA also identifies 20 Impact Investment Locations across the region – places in which economic development, housing and regeneration, transport and skills projects will be given a higher priority. The 3 Impact Investment Locations in Wolverhampton are:

10

Bilston Urban Village - delivery of an urban village of over 40ha providing residential, employment, education and leisure facilities. Provides for land reclamation and remediation [43ha], 900 new dwellings, a leisure centre, new school and a primary and community care centre. 700 jobs to be created.

i54 - Infrastructure works to provide a major investment site and high quality business park. Land assembly, reclamation, remediation and infrastructure provision on over 90 hectares of brownfield land to provide for 6,000 jobs.

Wolverhampton City Centre - Wolverhampton Interchange - Redevelopment of the bus station and railway station to provide for offices, retail, leisure and hotel facilities, which will create 2,100 new jobs.

4.2 SUB REGIONAL STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The Black Country Study and associated strategies promoted by the 4 Black Country Local authorities1 together articulate a clear vision to create a 21st Century economy in the sub region – one that is based on high quality industry and service sectors. Supporting this is a vision for diverse and attractive housing, environmental improvements and skills and training opportunities that will stem the loss of skilled people from the City and raise average earnings in the Black County to the national average (excluding London) by 2036. Quality of place is prioritised and identified as a priority under the goal of A 21st century environment – to attract and retain the types of people who will possess the education and skills necessary to achieve income goals and make the Black Country a favourable location for growing higher value activities.

The Joint Core Strategy for the Black Country (JSC) contains the spatial plans to support these strategies across the Black Country Urban Area. It also contains a target for 63,000 new homes in the plan period, the Wolverhampton allocation being 13,411 of this total. To date 1,094 homes have been completed, leaving a net requirement of 12,317 dwellings. The Black Country Core Strategy Examination in Public is to be held in July 2010, and the Core Strategy is due to be adopted in spring 2011.

Distilled from the Joint Core Strategy is the Black Country Investment Plan which outlines the known and aspirational investment within 4 strategic local centres and 16 regeneration corridors across the Black Country. Wolverhampton City Centre is identified as one of the strategic local centres and four regeneration corridors are found within the boundaries of Wolverhampton, these are:

Corridor 1: Pendeford – Fordhouses – Contains the i54 technology park. Corridor 2: Stafford Road Corridor – High quality homes and knowledge based businesses. Corridor 3: South of Wolverhampton City – Model Village, includes All Saints and Blakenhall Regeneration area. Corridor 4: Bilston Corridor – contains Bilston Urban Village and Ward Street regeneration areas.

1 The Black Country Employment Strategy and Black Country Enterprise Strategy 11

Wolverhampton recognises that cross boundary working is required to deliver a number of the thematic priorities that emerge through the 4 Black Country Single Conversation’s. Potential also exists for cross boundary work on spatial priorities, an example of this is Bilston/Moxley on the Wolverhampton/Walsall border.

Further cross boundary working is proposed through the emerging Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). It is proposed that Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Sandwell together intend to submit outline proposals to establish a LEP. The LEP will build upon the objectives contained within the JSC and it is envisaged that all the Black Country LIP’s will also inform this development process.

Some of the proposed objectives the LEP will seek to drive include:

Enabling established manufacturing businesses to diversify and grow Creating a transport network the delivers on economic needs Achieving a real step change in education performance Attracting private sector investment into the 4 strategic centres Creating new environments for both businesses and homes.

4.3 LOCAL STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The local strategic context for Wolverhampton echoes the regional and sub regional context in its aspiration to grow the City’s population, raise income levels, create a high quality sustainable environment as well as an inclusive and cohesive society. The main strategies that are of relevance here are the Sustainable Community Strategy, the Economic Development Strategy the Housing Strategy (and Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment, SHLAA) and the Local Development Framework.

The Sustainable Community Strategy is based on five ‘resident outcomes’ all of which will contribute to an improved economy (also see ‘Wolverhampton’s Vision, section 2): We like where we live – so that our current population stays in the City and people want to move into it and achieve more sustainable and socially mixed communities We have the employment opportunities we need – delivering high quality jobs and access to the skills and knowledge that people need and that employers want. We live longer, healthier lives – in which we are able to enjoy a high quality of life We feel safer and more involved – so that we can all make a full contribution to the life of the City and take advantage of all it has to offer We have the skills and knowledge we need – so our children and young people are able to achieve their full potential and make choices that promote their health and well-being.

Wolverhampton’s long-term vision is supported by plans to transform its economy. It will do this primarily by nurturing its existing business sectors. It will create the conditions for its aerospace industry and other high-performance technology sectors to expand and modernise, and for its creative industries to thrive. It will aim to increase its appeal by creating a high quality city centre, as well as enhancing the housing, schools and transport offer. There will also be a focus on building human

12

capital – the knowledge and skills of people living in Wolverhampton – so that they can take employment opportunities as they arise.

Business and academia working together is absolute key to ensuring the City’s economic aspirations are delivered. Through Wolverhampton University, the city’s businesses and development partners can tap into extensive R&D facilities and knowledge bases. The university is recognised as one of the most entrepreneurial, business-facing universities in the UK. In the last few years, it has supported businesses with consultancy, R&D facilities, skills development and knowledge transfer activity worth £25.6m. It is widely recognised that strengthening these relationships will help deliver further local economic development.

To ensure businesses are attracted to Wolverhampton the council recognises that much more needs to be done to ensure the current workforce and school leavers in particular have the necessary skills. Education and training are vital to ensure the transformation of the city. Section 5.1 further outlines how the city will tackle this issue.

The new i54 business park to the north of the City Centre will provide state-of-the-art business facilities to support over 6000 new jobs. It will house the headquarters of aerospace, marine and formula one companies specialising in high performance engineering and using advanced manufacturing techniques. It will accommodate some supply chain businesses, such as companies that specialise in light weight steel and metal production for planes and high performance cars, and new businesses that provide auxiliary services to support this growth – such as IT technology, financial and banking institutions. Part of the attraction will be the site’s proximity to Wolverhampton University who will be able to provide R&D support.

The concept for i54 has an environmentally sustainable dimension. There will be limits on carbon emissions of businesses accommodated on the site and it will contain many eco-friendly features. For example, a business hotel planned for part of the site will be able to use vegetables grown in solar greenhouses on the site.

Wolverhampton City Centre is one of the four strategic centres in the Black Country that will undergo a major transformation. It will have a modern state-of-the-art shopping centre and other quality shops, more exciting indoor and outdoor space to show off the City’s and the Black Country’s creative and cultural attractions, better leisure facilities, 21st Century offices, high quality eating and drinking establishments, popular urban-residential areas and a modern city-scale public transport interchange that will enhance access to Wolverhampton and within the City.

The redevelopment will provide a unique, more energetic and more interesting experience of the City Centre. Its design will promote better accessibility for walkers and cyclists, and will bring a more open feel to the centre. More people will want to, and have the opportunity to, live, work and play in Wolverhampton during the day, in the evenings and at weekends. More visitors will be drawn in, creating more market opportunities for Wolverhampton and the Black Country as a whole.

Most of the new housing and community facilities to support the business growth will initially be accommodated on the Stafford Road Corridor, which is just 1-2 miles from the i54 site, and the Bilston Urban Village and Canalside locations. The redevelopment of Heath Town will also provide additional housing, and importantly, will remove an unpopular and sub standard development that is close to other strategically important sites.

13

A key priority is to ensure that business leaders who will drive the city’s business growth will want to live in Wolverhampton. A range of new high quality homes in high quality neighbourhoods will be provided to cater for people on a range of incomes, including some ‘aspirational homes’ that will be attractive to very senior professionals. Investment in the local schools through the recently confirmed Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is also planned and local transport arrangements will be upgraded offering better public transport and enhancing the experience for pedestrians and cyclists. The Housing Strategy 2009-2026 presents an integrated cross-tenure strategy, that will help the City of Wolverhampton to achieve its long term economic and community goals (to 2026). In drawing up the housing strategy, the key question asked was:

What sort of ‘residential offer’ will attract, retain, empower and develop people to make Wolverhampton the place it aspires to be?

Wolverhampton aspires to be a prosperous place ‘...a City where people can thrive’. To be this, the City needs a housing offer that will help to attract, retain, empower and develop business leaders and tomorrow’s business leaders to drive business growth, now and in the future, as well as the full range of workers at different levels within businesses.

Many elements of the housing strategy are intended to respond to the aspirations of these people, including, for example building new housing that these groups will aspire to at different times in their lives, including the quality of the design of the housing and neighbourhoods creating a high quality, well managed private rented sector that young professionals often rely on for accommodation reducing overcrowding, so that young people are not distracted from doing their homework and working age people can work from home as necessary providing good advice about housing options, to help people find a home that suits them at different stages of their lives and from which they can live their lives well redeveloping priority areas, to improve them and make them more attractive to a wider range of people

The strategy lists out 12 objectives that have been developed to actively drive investment into housing. These are listed in the following section to demonstrate the correlation and synergy between WCC and HCA strategic housing and regeneration objectives

The Wolverhampton Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) indicates available land for the construction of 8,184 dwellings. These come from existing commitments, i.e. planning granted or in the planning process. The shortfall will be addressed by 3,432 dwellings provided from the redevelopment of former employment sites. The City centre mixed-use developments are also able to contribute a further 1,100 while smaller windfall sites may supply up to 1,030. Taking into consideration some losses of units through renewal programmes, in total the SHLAA has identified housing supply of 13,546 homes across the city.

This suggests that there is sufficient land to accommodate the demand for new housing as a result of household growth that has been identified through the Black Country Joint Core Strategy process. This calculates the demand for 13,411 new homes in Wolverhampton over the period to 2026. Of these, the need for affordable 14

homes, available at lower than market cost, has been assessed as being around 700 per annum – through the Housing Needs Study and Housing Market Assessment. There is currently a surplus of 1 bedroom homes at affordable levels and a shortfall of homes with 3 and 4 bedrooms. Wolverhampton is planning to rebalance this by building larger homes. Some 2 bedroom houses will also be provided to replace those being lost through demolition and to provide accommodation that is suitable for older people.

In relation to the Local Development Framework, the Stafford Road Area Action Plan Issues consultation has been completed and Options consultation will take place in autumn 2010. Issues consultation will begin on the Bilston Corridor and Wolverhampton City Centre Area Action Plans during autumn 2010. Evidence on a number of issues, including a Water Cycle Study and Desk Top Study, is currently being collected to support progress on the Area Action Plans, which will allocate sites for housing, employment and other uses up to 2026.

4.4 HCA STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The HCA vision and objective in the West Midlands is to create opportunities for all people and communities by improving their access to high quality accommodation across all tenures while transforming the physical fabric of communities, and by helping to build the basis for economic prosperity.

To enable this objective to be realised the HCA nationally has adopted 4 key strategic objectives, these are:

Growth – To contribute to the delivery of increased housing numbers to meet the needs and existing shortfalls in accommodation of all tenures in local areas. Affordability and Accessibility – To secure the delivery of new affordable housing (for social rent and as affordable home ownership) that is inclusive of all social groups and reflects the needs of the local area. Existing Stock – To ensure the current housing stock meets the needs of local communities and improvements are made to its energy efficiency and carbon footprint. Place Making – To ensure place making principles are incorporated within the LIP and carried through to developments which will enhance communities and provide the facilities, services and infrastructure.

In addition to these strategic objectives, there are a number of essential cross-cutting policies, themes and approaches which form a central consideration within all HCA’s work. These include; Improving capacity and skills in housing and regeneration Vulnerable and older people Equality and diversity.

To ensure delivery of these key objectives the HCA is adopting a fresh approach to investment. A ‘Total Place/Capital’ approach is now central to the way the HCA works and how it expects local authorities to work in the future. This means that local partners are expected to take a collaborative approach to both revenue and capital investment being made in a locality. This collaboration also extends to Central Government and its agencies. The investment plans are drawn up collaboratively and the implications of all the local spend are considered as a whole. This approach has

15

the potential to deliver huge savings and to be a more effective way to deliver services to local communities.

The Total Place/Capital approach goes hand in hand with the Place Making agenda by focusing investment and resources into priority neighbourhoods. The purpose of the LIP is to ensure that in a constrained financial environment the Total Place/Capital approach is embedded and will result in better alignment of public investment that will deliver community benefits, deliver economic growth and increase housing provision for Wolverhampton.

HCA Regional Priorities and Challenges

The HCA national priorities are reflected in the HCA’s West Midlands business plan. These priorities along with Wolverhampton’s key priorities will form the base principles of the Local Investment Plan.

Increasing the supply of housing, including affordable homes: It is the intention of the HCA to work with WCC and other local public sector partners to secure new housing delivery on public sector land utilising both the capital investment and the HCA’s expertise and delivery tools to enable development to take place. Place making and regeneration: It is the intention of the HCA to work closely and collaborate with local partners to align investment in key priority places to ensure the delivery of balanced and sustainable communities and the maximum impact of investment is achieved. Existing stock and retrofit: The regional HCA team aim to deliver a programme of retrofitting stock through energy efficiency measures. With a view to reduce emissions, elevate fuel poverty and developing economic prosperity while tackling the problem of empty and poor quality housing.

These HCA objectives are consistent with national, regional and local strategic policy and emphasise the importance of people and places. The alignment of the HCA priorities and the WCC housing strategy objectives can be seen in the table below:

WCC housing strategy objective Aligned to HCA objective 1 People who can drive business growth now and Increasing housing supply in the future actively choose to live in the City 2 The local economic opportunities arising from Increasing Housing Supply housing activity are maximised 3 Significant steps are taken to improving the Existing stock and retrofit sustainability and energy efficiency of all housing 4 Housing and neighbourhood designs are Place making and attractive, inclusive and safe regeneration 5 The mix of types, sizes and tenures of homes is Place making and increased across the City increasing housing supply 6 All social homes are maintained to a decent Existing stock and retrofit standard and the condition of owner occupied and rented housing is improved significantly, particularly in regeneration areas 7 The gap between the most deprived and most Place making and affluent areas is reduced regeneration 8 No one is held back in life because of inadequate Existing stock and retrofit 16

housing 9 All needs, demands and aspirations for housing Increasing housing supply are met 10 All people are helped to make good choices Place making and about their housing at different times of their lives regeneration 11 Older people are enabled, through their housing Increasing housing supply and housing-related support, to live active lives for longer 12 Rented housing (social and private) is managed Existing stock and retrofit to a high standard

However new approaches will need to be developed by partners to ensure delivery in a period when constraints are placed upon public sector investment. This will mean that new approaches to unlocking value are required. This is why the integration of capital investment is vital to delivering real change. It is the aim of this LIP to start developing the necessary conversations to ensure this happens. The joint principles of investment identified in section 8 will further outline how the HCA and City Council intend to tackle this.

PRIORITIES 5 CITY-WIDE THEMATIC PRIORITIES

Wolverhampton has a set of 6 city-wide ‘resident outcomes’ which it is working towards, that are articulated in the Sustainable Community Strategy. There is also a target to increase Wolverhampton’s population to 252,000 by 2026, which these resident outcomes should help to achieve. The resident outcomes are:

We have the Skills and Knowledge we need We like where we live – providing the Homes of the Future We will live Long and Healthy Lives We have the Job Opportunities we need We feel Safer and More Involved We like where we live – Sustainable Communities

Achieving these resident outcomes depends on a range of interventions and investment being made – both capital and revenue. The 6 priority areas for capital investment are:

Education and skills Housing growth and renewal Health and leisure Economic development Environmental sustainability Transport

The indicative capital investment levels across the city across each of the above themes are shown below:

17

The table below provides more detail on the key capital investments by stream:

Theme Funding Stream Spatial Target Total Commitment

Decent Homes (inc Estate £374,779,000 High WCC match funds)

£43,642,757,( including £21, Housing HCA and partners Estate High 298,791 HCA funding),

HMR Designated £394,000,000 Low

Schemes inc. City C Transport Public: WCC/DfT £100,992,000 High Interchange

Med (schemes Economic Primarily private Various schemes £803,350,000 dependent on development finance)

Wolverhampton Various sites £55,000,000 High College

Wolverhampton Science Park Phase £9,000,000 High Education University 4

BSF Secondary Selected schools £370,000,000 High

BSF Primary Selected schools £29,327,000 High)

18

College and Uni Sites £64,000,000 High

LIFT: PCT / PFI Selected PCT sites £90,000,000 High Health and Leisure Bilston leisure WCC £17,599,000 High Centre

Other £48,278,000

Total £2,370,832,925

Further information on the capital and revenue investment and interventions that are planned within the City is provided below.

5.1 WE HAVE THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE WE NEED – Education and skills

By 2026, 40% of our population will have a Level 4 qualification.

The development of a skilled, well qualified workforce is critical to the future success of the City. However, present day Wolverhampton has inherited a skills profile from the industrial past of predominantly low and semi-skilled work and limited aspirations.

To address the requirements of the 21st century economy, attract business into the city and enable existing businesses to grow WCC are working both with children young people and adults. Two Delivery Plans have been developed – one to support the current adult workforce and the other to work with the workforce of tomorrow and in particular those at risk of social and economic exclusion.

Current workforce: young people and adults

A significant percentage (25%) of the working age population have no qualifications. The numbers at the Level Two threshold are static and the proportion with higher skills (Levels 3 and 4), a critical element in the city’s Economic Strategy, is significantly below regional and national levels.

However, a wide range of statistics shows strong improvement with regards to the achievement of young people. For example, qualifications at aged 19 are improving faster than elsewhere in the Black Country – the percentage of 19 year olds achieving Level Two and Level Three increased steadily between 2003/04 and 2006/07. The overall success rate for learners from the nine most deprived wards in the city attending adult learning has increased each year for the last three years from 68% to 88% in 2007-08.

Wolverhampton has a special programme to tackle the skills and knowledge deficit in the most deprived neighbourhoods, with plans for each neighbourhood and learning brokers who implement the plans. In 2007–08 the Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities Fund (NLDCF) engaged 1408 adults of whom 482 progressed onto programmes at Level One and above, 241 moved onto vocational programmes and 99 entered employment.

A consortium of nine public and third sector partners utilised Deprived Area Fund (DAF) to deliver an employment service to eight priority wards. The service aimed at assisting and

19

supporting those with long- term health problems, older unemployed people (30+), lone parents, BME groups and young people (19+) who are not in education, training or employment. To date over 537 clients have been engaged in the project, with over 60 entering employment.

The range of learning opportunities available in deprived areas has been extended through the Learning and Skills Platform, a collaboration between the public and Third Sectors. The platform will be expanded throughout 2009–11. “Learners speak highly of the opportunities they now have to attend learning centres in their locality.” (Ofsted Inspection Report 2009)

For the past two years the city has operated a strategy for reducing NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) led by a consortium of providers from the statutory, private and voluntary sectors. This consortium has worked to a detailed action plan which has enabled targeted work aimed at NEETs ‘hotspot’ areas. There has been a reduction in NEETs which has over-achieved the target percentage for 2008-09.

Young offenders’ participation in Education, Training and Employment is a stubborn area of performance. Delivery of an action plan is felt to be having some positive impact. For school age children engagement issues remain a challenge.

Workforce of tomorrow: Children

Wolverhampton’s schools and children’s results have been improving steadily over the last decade, and we want this to continue. We want to be known as a City of Learning, as a city of creativity and a place in which all young people can explore, develop and achieve.

Actions undertaken in this area include: an extensive 12-month training programme for all curriculum areas for providers with particular emphasis on Communication, Language and Literacy and Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Implementation of Early Years Quality Support Programme (EYQISP),. All library branches now operate Chatterbooks and Baby+ groups to help children and their carers enjoy reading and socialising from an early age. The council was one of the Region’s ‘Play Pathfinders’ and is now introducing more than 20 new ‘natural’ play spaces across the city in areas which have been identified as being deficient in play space. The Council, supported by the PCT, are actively participating in the government’s free swimming programme. Cultural opportunities for children and young people have also been further developed, with more than 10,600 visiting the Arts and Museums venues in organised school groups, and a growing number achieving Arts Award.

Priorities

We are clear there are still major challenges to be faced – rising worklessness, low skill levels, high rates of teenage conception, low life expectancy, and poor quality housing all require significant improvement. In doing so, we want to maintain the city’s traditionally high levels of residents’ satisfaction and confidence. Consequently, we have identified our top priorities for the coming year as:

Managing the impact of the recession in relation to jobs, investment, business survival, house building, crime, health and skills and including maintaining the impetus on the 20

delivery of major public sector capital projects – BSF, LIFT, Interchange, Decent Homes, Library Services Public reassurance regarding crime and anti-social behaviour by reducing acquisitive crime levels Work to reduce teenage conception rates Raising skill levels, initially at NVQ Level 2 Reducing infant mortality rates particularly in poorly performing areas and thereby impact on overall mortality rates

There are a range of programmes which address skills and employment issues in the city and which incorporate lessons learned from previous initiatives – now part of the cross- cutting Delivery Plan for Employment, Skills and Enterprise). For example, as a result of this, the decision has been made to continue to fund an established network of providers – statutory and third sector – which move previously workless adults into employment.

The Science and Technology Centre will be supporting the high technology, high value added industries emerging across the region, not least in the corridor between Wolverhampton and Telford. It will provide a skills and knowledge thread connecting the new industries of i54 with the enterprise and innovation associated with the University’s presence on the Science Park. It will also aim to fuse the creative arts and media production technologies with engineering and science.

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is a key part of the transformation of the city into a genuinely cosmopolitan, inclusive city for the 21st century. The city is a Wave 5 BSF Authority and its Outline Business Case was approved in February 2009. The Council has now secured its Final Business Case for the Sample Schools developments on 30/04/2010 and set up the Local Education Partnership (LEP) to deliver its £300+ million programme of rebuild and refurbishment of its secondary education provision. Although cut backs have been made to this programme nationally Wolverhampton’s allocation has been unaffected.

Capital investment in education and skills

The major investment to 2014 will be in new and refurbished secondary schools and s supported by Building Schools for the Future Secondary Schools programme of £300+m. A smaller primary school programme of £29m is also planned.

Wolverhampton College and the University also have significant planned investments to deliver new student facilities at four major sites.

5.2 WE LIKE WHERE WE LIVE – PROVIDING THE HOMES OF THE FUTURE – Housing growth and renewal

By 2026 we will have built at least an additional 13,000 homes.

Good housing and neighbourhoods makes a huge contribution to the economic, social and environmental well-being of people living in the City. Our programme for housing is broad and is geared to achieving many benefits for citizens. 21

Building new housing to meet needs and support growth

High quality, well designed ‘Lifetime’ homes are being built in a number of locations to meet current needs and support growth in the City’s population. Over the period from 2006 to 2026, our target is to build 13,650 new homes to meet future requirements, with around one third of these being affordable homes. Some of that housing will appeal to high earning professionals to ensure that those moving to the area to take up jobs are persuaded to put down roots in Wolverhampton. Most of the homes will have 3 or more bedrooms to provide a better balance. Some will be bungalows and other smaller units suitable for elderly people and extra care homes for frail elderly people. We will also provide for our gypsy and traveller population.

Existing homes

Good progress has been made to bring social sector homes up to the Decent Homes standard. Wolverhampton Homes and the Council have a programme that will ensure that all the Council’s homes are made decent by 2012. Vulnerable home owners are supported by the Home Improvement Agency and assisted by small loan and grant programmes (including Kickstart) in order to keep their homes in a good state of repair. More than 65 loans of a total of £800,000 have been made to low income households, and this will be returned over time for relending.

A programme has been started to better insulate the City’s homes in all tenures, to improve warmth and reduce carbon emissions. The Retrofit programme that is at the pilot stage will eventually provide the knowledge and means to do this, and will be rolled out across the city. This will build on other schemes to reduce the environmental impact of homes and is in addition to an existing Warm Front programme to provide affordable warmth for vulnerable residents.

There are a number of measures designed to promote good landlordism in order to improve the quality of the City’s private rented sector – both for those who live in this tenure permanently and to make it attractive to people who may live in the sector for a short period and who can contribute to driving economic prosperity in line with the City’s economic strategy.

Improving choice in housing

Homes in the City – a City-wide system for letting homes that provides choice – has recently been introduced to give people a better chance of finding a home that suits them at their particular stage in live. Over-crowded households will receive particular help to find a suitable solution to their accommodation needs through better options and publicity about those options. More larger homes will become available through incentives and assistance for people who are under-occupying homes to down-size.

There is a significant programme to bring empty homes across the City back into use, including by using enforcement powers, in order to increase the choice available and improve the City’s housing. A Private Sector Leasing scheme run by Wolverhampton Homes has recently been introduced to take over the management of some private dwellings and letting them to households in housing need. Long term empty homes are usually targeted and the dwellings are improved as part of this programme. Under this scheme, the council arranges for the dwelling to be improved to provide a good quality home.

A new service that provides information and advice on housing and housing options widely to the people of Wolverhampton– and to people considering moving to the city

22

– will be established. This will embrace all of the City’s current housing-related advice and will be integrated with other advice services provided for the benefit of the City’s residents, such as financial, training and employment advice. It will help individuals to navigate their way through the housing system, to plan ahead and to make choices that suit them at different stages of their lives.

Improving livelihoods

Wolverhampton Homes provides an apprenticeship scheme that took on 30 apprentices in 2008 and will take on 30 apprentices in 2009 and other housing providers have similar initiatives as well as training and support initiatives. Helping workless people to find appropriate routes and opportunities into skills training and jobs will continue. Housing partners are being encouraged to use their purchasing power to support trade for businesses that employ local people at the same time promoting excellent practices, a commitment to developing staff and value for money

Other ways in which housing providers are supporting people’s livelihoods is in the provision of financial advice and financial related services, together with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, credit union.

Housing-related support

Support to help people to live independently is of high importance, particularly for older people, single homeless people, young people at risk, women at risk of domestic violence, people with mental health problems and people with learning difficulties. During 2008/2009 around 450 adaptations were completed, enabling stairlifts and ramps to be installed with minimum of bureaucracy and within a relatively short timescale. Also, a ‘sheltered neighbourhoods’ service, will provide warden services for older people living in all tenures, not only in social housing.

The support programme is being developed in order to give people more choice over the types of support they receive, in line with the Government’s personalisation programme.

Increasingly, the prevention of homelessness is a priority. The housing strategy also seeks to address recent and future gaps in service provision and developing quality services and information. A Rent Deposit Scheme (RDS) enables households in housing need to access privately rented homes. Young people are a particular focus and examples of preventative services include a mediation service for young people and their families and a ‘crash pad’ facility providing emergency temporary accommodation out of hours to place young people safely, until assessment can take place the following working day.

Good quality places

The City is intending to raise the quality of place in a number of ways including by always providing appropriate infrastructure – including physical, social and green infrastructure – whenever housing is built or areas redeveloped, by improving the mix and layout of housing to support ambition and integration, adopting accessible, inclusive, interesting neighbourhood designs that support green lifestyles and managing areas well to ensure a safe and secure public realm.

The table below shows examples of the public and private investment that has been made in several housing led regeneration schemes located in the identified priority spatial locations which follow in section 7. It has often been possible to attract twice the levels of private money for the public investment made. 23

Priority Project HCA Partner Other public contribution subsidy

Bilston Oxford Street 1,700,000 3,900,000 nil (west Mercia)

Bilston Lunt 2,975,000 5,825,000 720,000 (Heantun)

Bilston Bloors 320,000 670,000 nil (Sanctuary)

Canalside Fusion 1,800,000 N/A Nil

Stafford Road Showell Park 3,300,000 1,400,000 nil (Bromford) 1,300,000 (Keepmoat)

Stafford Road Low Hill 3,300,000 3,700,000 290,000 Extracare (Accord)

Capital investment in housing growth and renewal

One major strand of investment is in upgrading existing social housing to meet decent homes standard - £375m which includes some Wolverhampton City Council match funding. The other major strand is the Housing Market Renewal Programme to remodel estates to improve long term sustainability and meet local needs is planned with an indicative £394m. However, this is not committed and relies on a range of private and public funding coming forward. The National Affordable Housing Programme and Growth Point Funds has contributed an additional £21m for new homes to provide people during the last programme period providing a wider choice and attract new residents. This has provided leverage for substantial amounts of private money into new homes.

Much smaller amounts of capital investment are coming forward through the WM Kickstart fund to improve private sector housing, to raise quality and choice

5.3 WE LIVE LONG AND HEALTHY LIVES – health and leisure

By 2026 we will match the national average life expectancy of age 82 for men and 85 for women.

Wolverhampton’s residents can expect to live between 1 to 2 years less than people in other parts of England and Wales. Higher mortality compared to the national average is in 6 key areas: infant mortality, Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), Stroke, Suicide, Alcohol- related disease and Cancer. Many residents suffer from long term illnesses.

The improvement of health and reduction of inequalities are key targets for the LSP which is taking a long-term preventative approach to addressing the health inequalities in the 24

City. As well as wanting to focus on key health inequalities, focus will also be on childhood obesity, teenage conception and infant mortality.

The city is mindful of the possible impact of the economic downturn on both mental health and alcohol misuse. Work within the LSP to develop enhanced financial advice and other support for local people, for example with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, is well developed.

Meeting targets

Mortality rates

Key improvements designed to impact on future mortality rates in the city include:

New developments in the prevention and management of heart disease are being implemented across the City Weight management programmes will be targeted at those at risk of vascular disease Significant investments in talking therapies in primary care are expected to impact on suicide rates in the city Increased resources have been identified to support work with women who are smoking whilst pregnant – we expect to see a sustained 1% drop each year over the next four years Key initiatives using social marketing programmes will target those communities most at risk – by 2013 we expect to see 40 fewer deaths from Coronary Vascular Disease (CVD) in people under 75 each year Childhood vaccinations will be increased to World Health Organisation (WHO) standards over the next three years

Primary prevention strategies are being developed, with reporting systems supporting the identification of patients at 20% or greater risk of a CVD event in the next 10 years, with enhanced services and medicines management programmes being commissioned or enhanced.

Work is underway to further develop a specialist smoking cessation service; focussing on young people and workplace, ‘stop before the op’ programmes, and the development of a social marketing strategy for hard to reach communities including manual workers

Supporting Inclusion

The Supporting Inclusion Delivery Plan focuses on support for people who are vulnerable and at risk of exclusion, improve prevention and promote inclusion. The Plan concentrates on (i) a one city approach to information and advice. (ii) financial inclusion (iii) community-based support to vulnerable individuals and families (iv) service change to prevent vulnerability. Three key elements include

Increased funding for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) that has enabled them to reduce waiting times from six weeks to two weeks, which in turn has resulted in reducing “no-shows” by employing additional specialist staff time. two pilot “think family” pilot projects – in Low Hill and Blakenhall – the project will develop new approaches to family working in the city drawing on national best practice and local delivery.

25

Two new very sheltered housing schemes will come on stream in 2009/10. These include a joint scheme with Dudley Council and the Beacon Centre for the Blind for a specialist sensory impairment scheme and a scheme in Low Hill for older people. This continues with our programme to reduce residential care home admissions and support independent living.

Capital investment in health and leisure

The PCT and Council are planning the development of three mental health resource centres/multi-practice GP facilities and three new joint primary and community care centres –intended to integrate PCT and social care services – as part of a PFI /LIFT (£90m in total). They will house all the services currently provided in the joint resource centres plus GP surgeries, outpatients, diagnostics and a range of other PCT services. The number of intermediate care beds will be increased to 54 and will include nursing support, provided by the PCT, since the lack of nursing care in the existing resource centres has limited the range of service users who can be offered rehabilitation. Eight further local primary care services will also be redeveloped by the PCT as set out in the Strategic Service Delivery Plan.

Approval in principle has also been given to build a Dementia Care Centre in the west of the City Park using PFI credits of £30m. This is a key element of the refreshed Dementia Care Strategy.

Wolverhampton City Council is also investing in new leisure centre facilities as part of the Bilston Urban Village development as well as outdoor parks, both of which are anticipated to produce improvements in health outcomes through promoting healthy lifestyles.

5.4 WE HAVE THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES WE NEED – Economic development

By 2026 we will have an employment rate of at least 76%.

In 2007, only 65.4% of working age people were in work, much lower than the Government’s target of 80%. Thirty percent of Wolverhampton’s children live in households dependant on workless benefits.

Wolverhampton entered the recession earlier than most places, and has been hit hard by it. The Council and partners responded quickly to lessen the impact, particularly supporting the Job Centre Plus, and the figures show that Wolverhampton has been less badly affected by unemployment than the Black Country as a whole.

The City is taking a medium to long-term approach to transforming the local economy. The three main strands of work are (i) to address the low skill levels within the working age population of the City, particularly in priority neighbourhoods (ii) invest in the physical infrastructure of the City, to provide a range of facilities and employment opportunities that will be attractive to businesses and (iii) to improve the City’s quality of place and residential offer. To this end, the Economic and Learning Partnerships have been jointly planning and delivering their work.

Responding to the recession

In responding rapidly to the recession, the following activities, totally £1.6m, were commissioned to enable local people to improve participation, skill levels and access work: 26

pre-recruitment service resulting in fifty people gaining employment in public services business start-up support resulting in eight new businesses self-employment advice and support leading to twenty people with disabilities entering self-employment voluntary sector organisations funded to support 225 workless people into employment focused support to sixty young people vulnerable to becoming Not in Employment, education or training (NEET) 238 people into jobs for 13 weeks+ through the College’s employability team 99 residents entering employment from Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities Fund programme reduction of NEET cohort to 8.6% (below targeted levels).

A2B (Access 2 Business) provides free support to assist residents with disabilities and health issues into training, employment and self employment.

Priority neighbourhoods

The City’s priority neighbourhoods have each developed a multi-agency Neighbourhood Employment and Skills Plan that are tailored to neighbourhood circumstances. Working through the City’s existing neighbourhood arrangements has proved to be an effective way of engaging local people and addressing the specific barriers they face to both skills development and employment. Various third sector bodies have been commissioned to deliver services.

Three priority neighbourhoods (Blakenhall, Graisley and St Peter’s) located within the ABCD New Deal for Communities area have seen significant and continuing reductions in their worklessness rates when compared with the best performing neighbourhoods since 2005.

The Bilston Development project contains a number of initiatives including

Introduction to Construction Training for 16-18 year old NEET clients – Wolverhampton Homes has taken on apprentices under the project. There is a demand for the Construction Skills qualification through which regular monthly training is being offered. Partnership with Wolverhampton Homes and their supply chain to engage local residents with pre-employment support to access apprenticeship and training opportunities. There is also a focus on Women in Construction to attract more women into the sector There is Job Clinic Programme in Bilston East – all residents have access to IT resources for job search and applications, access to local training advice and ant specialist support that may be required.

Development of the physical infrastructure

Many of the planned developments across the City are intended to support economic vision outlined in section 4.3 and promote economic competitiveness by attracting businesses to the City. These include:

Commercial development – including the i54, a flagship technology park at Junction 2 of the M54 for high tech aerospace industries.

27

Retail development – including Summer Row, a new £300m retail quarter at the centre of the City that will include 85 shops, leisure facilities, cafes, bars, apartments and car parking

Mixed Use development – including the new Transport Interchange, connecting the city centre with new bus and rail stations and that will also include new apartments, offices, leisure facilities and improved public realm

The city is also looking to exploit opportunities to bring forward other major public investment as well as maintaining and improving its “offer” to the private sector. Major investment in decent homes, BSF and LIFT will continue providing both employment and vitally important new facilities, which will promote and secure other partnership priorities. In addition the proposed Housing Retrofit strategy also provides the opportunity to deliver new skills and business opportunities in manufacturing industries and the supply chain.

Capital investment in economic development

To tackle worklessness and deliver economic growth, the City will see capital investment totalling £803m, a significant proportion of which will be private investment. The City Centre redevelopment will significantly improve commercial, retail and cultural competitiveness and the redevelopment of the Stratford Road Corridor is the City’s primary location for higher value industrial investment and employment. In the current financial climate these schemes remain planned although with potential delays and funding challenges.

5.5 WE FEEL SAFER AND MORE INVOLVED

By 2026, the majority of the city’s residents will feel safe

Tackling crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour is very important to residents. In 2008- 09, total recorded crime in Wolverhampton fell by 9.9% from 23,905 to 21,535. And overall volumes of serious violent crime are low. Despite this, people in the city do not feel safe. If the city is to attract people to live in it and businesses to grow in it, people need to feel they are safe. The Council and partners are, therefore, working to reduce crime levels further as well as acting to help people feel safer.

Wolverhampton has a strong commitment to involving residents in shaping the future of the city and its neighbourhoods.

Most if not all of the actions under this theme involve revenue funding only

Being and feeling safer

Actions are being taken in a number of areas, to reduce crime levels and increase safety levels, including:

Young people – crime reduction campaigns about burglary and keeping property safe , talks and presentations in local schools on knife crime

Security – use of metal detection arches at various venues in the City, target hardening of properties following a domestic burglary to prevent repeat offending 28

Safer public places – additional security patrols in Wolverhampton bus station through ‘Operation Safer Travel’

Safer roads – road safety schemes where there is a history of high numbers of road casualties, traffic calming, speed-recording signs (with potential for further action), changing road layouts to reduce speeding, improved signage and road markings

Domestic Violence (DV) – measures to increase reporting, support for DV victims before, during and after their criminal justice proceedings (Criminal Justice Support Services Coordinator and Independent DV Advisers), improved information sharing, joint risk assessment and planning for high risk families through Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC), Haven Refuges and Sanctuary Scheme for families that wish to remain in their homes

Violent crime and alcohol misuse (there is a strong correlation between the two) – a range of actions

Racial harassment and community cohesion – caseworker assistance for victims of racial harassment in gathering evidence, providing information, advice and support, partners acting to increase the reporting of racially-motivated incidents.

Neighbourhood focus – tasking arrangements so that partners’ responses to communities issues are coordinated and dealt with quickly and effectively, warden services integrated into neighbourhood teams and driven by community needs

Guns, knives, gangs – this is currently quite low but creates a lot of fear for residents. Actions are mainly aimed at tackling the underlying issues and include School Exclusions/Modified Timetable, Youth Empowerment, Community Engagement, Access to Work and Employment

5.6 WE LIKE WHERE WE LIVE – SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES – Environmental sustainability

By 2026 we will reduce our carbon emissions to 4.1 tonnes per person.

We all understand the challenge of climate change but its impacts won’t be clear for a number of years. The Government is committed to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 and we know that some actions to manage climate change will take a long time to have any effect.

Wolverhampton is ranked 49 amongst 434 councils in the UK in terms of low carbon emissions. This is in part due to factors such as low car ownership. However, as our city changes, as our population grows and more people find work, we know that this will change. Our challenge is, therefore, to increase employment without a consequent increase in carbon emissions, and we are doing this by increasing the use of public transport within Wolverhampton and across the Black Country.

Wolverhampton is working with several local and regional partners to prepare for a major programme to retrofit the existing housing in both across all sectors to reduce their impact on the environment. Further information is included in section 6 on thematic housing priorities (priority 2).

29

5.7 TRANSPORT

By addressing transport problems, we can improve access to jobs and skills, enhance the city’s competitiveness, improve social inclusion and health, provide access to homes and regeneration, and positively contribute to the carbon-reduction agenda. Efficient, effective and attractive transport is crucial to achieving these objectives.

Wolverhampton is one of 7 local authorities that makes up the West Midlands Metropolitan Area. The collective vision of those local authorities is to make the West Midlands Metropolitan Area more prosperous, healthier and safer, offering a high quality and attractive environment where people will choose to live, work and visit, and where businesses thrive and attract inward investment. to do this by offering sustainable travel and transport choices and connectivity within and between the wide range of centres, large and small, which make up the Metropolitan Area. Improved technology and local accessibility will reduce the need to travel, whilst supporting economic growth, within a low carbon environment.

There will be equal opportunity for everyone to gain access to services and facilities, reflecting our strong ethnic and cultural diversity, positively building on this distinct competitive and social advantage.

The Area will continue to develop its role as the economic and service hub for the West Midlands region, offering a sustainable transport system that takes full advantage of its location at the centre of England, building on the success of our major regional assets such as the National Exhibition Centre and National Indoor Arena.”

The kind of issues that need to be addressed are ensuring the accessibility of major new housing and employment developments developing better facilities for freight to support business viability and regeneration providing safer transport networks with priority for vulnerable people placing greater emphasis on sustainable travel and low-carbon impacts promoting better facilities to reduce the need to travel

The five most important issues respondents felt the Local Transport Plan should address were: environmental issues including emissions and the need for carbon reduction the need to improve safety and security on public transport the need to improve the ‘hard measures’ of bus services including the frequency, routes, reliability and fares road based public transport issues including looking at road capacity, the need to reduce congestion and potential bus priority measures the need to improve accessibility of public transport for less able users, including issues around social inclusion

Capital investment in transport

Key transport schemes are the City Centre Interchange and i54 junction, both anticipating AWM support. In addition there are a number of planned Wolverhampton 30

City Council capital investment improvements to improve traffic flow to and through the key investment areas to support economic regeneration and to support key regeneration projects and housing growth. These together total £101m and will be primarily invested into the new bus and train Interchange project which will see the provision of a world class bus station and upgrading of the train station.

6 THEMATIC LOCAL INVESTMENT PLAN HOUSING PRIORITIES

The purpose of the LIP is to identify both thematic and spatial priorities which align to the wider local priorities and strategies outlined in the previous 2 sections. In collaboration the HCA and WCC have identified five thematic priorities which will contribute to the wider development and regeneration of Wolverhampton,. They are concerned with the quality of residential environments as well as the quality of the housing since the overall ‘quality of place’ is important for achieving economic competitiveness. This ‘whole neighbourhood approach’ will also ensure that other investment streams which are planned can be delivered in tandem with housing delivery.

The drivers for developing these priorities have been a desire to

Support the City’s ambitions, especially its economic growth ambitions Contribute to overcoming the City’s housing problems Meet the housing needs of the City’s citizens Contribute to the health and welfare of local communities. Contribute to Wolverhampton environmental agenda

Within the City’s housing strategy, the priorities have been organised around two broad themes that echo the HCA own themes as well as the drive for improved sustainability: a focus on homes, embracing regeneration of residential and mixed use areas, meeting demands and aspirations for new homes, making the most of existing homes a focus on people and neighbourhoods, embracing access to housing information and advice, support for people’s livelihoods, creating good quality places.

Here, these priorities are organised under the HCA’s theme headings of housing supply, affordability and accessibility, existing stock and place making.

Priority 1: Delivering housing supply and supporting economic growth

Growth in the number of homes Plans for housing growth up to 2026 have been drawn up through a process that has involved regional plans (the RSS), sub regional plans (Black Country Core Strategy) and Wolverhampton’s own Core Strategy. Over the period from 2006 to 2026, the target is for 13,411 new homes to be built in the City to meet future requirements.

To support the planned economic growth of the city and its key commercial and retail projects it is vital that Wolverhampton has an injection of new housing. It is of particular importance that the jobs that are created in the city centre and at i54 are 31

complemented with a high quality housing offer to ensure that new people live as well as work in the city boundaries. While the intention is to provide new homes across the city, three main areas have been identified for the majority of the housing growth. These are the City centre / Canalside, Stafford Road and Bilston / Bilston Urban Village – these are discussed in more depth in section 7. Other sites that have been identified for housing growth have been identified in the SHLAA. The HCA and WCC will work with partners in the public and private sectors to ensure land assets are released using a range of tools to deliver housing growth.

Evidence suggests that sufficient levels of 1 and 2 bed homes exist, but insufficient homes suitable for families with children, some of whom are living in overcrowded conditions. The City is therefore looking to ensure growth delivers larger affordable homes. A high proportion of the new homes will, therefore, be 3+ bedroom houses, including a sizable proportion of 4 bedroom houses. . Growth in economic competitiveness A key objective of the housing and economic strategy, which is also embedded into the LIP is to ensure that the people who can drive business growth in the future are actively choosing to live within the City, therefore a range of housing offers are required. A large proportion of these people will be new graduates and young professionals and there will be some very senior professionals as well. The places where the majority of new housing is planned (Canalside, Stafford Road and Bilston Urban Village) are close to and accessible to the City Centre, the motorway network and high quality sustainable public transport hubs. These areas will be continue to be developed in order to provide an overall ‘place offer’ that will be attractive to these individuals eg. They will have a cosmopolitan feel, there will be the potential for cafe culture to develop, and the type and character of housing and neighbourhood design will be attractive.

The LIP also recognises the contribution that investment in housing and regeneration can make to the economic growth of the city. A key priority for the LIP will be to ensure that investment is joined up to local employment opportunities for those groups who are in most need training and apprenticeships. It is also proposed to integrate the local supply chain to maximise employment and training opportunities from the investment that takes places.

The Wolverhampton ALMO, Registered Providers (RP’s) and developer partners will also make a contribution to economic growth by tackling worklessness among their tenants. Therefore it is proposed in the LIP that the HCA, WCC and partners work together to develop a strategic framework to support people in these circumstances. Potentially RP’s and Wolverhampton Homes could extend their community housing interface to act as a sign post for those who are in long term unemployment and not engaged in the back to work process.

Priority 2: Existing homes

Priority neighbourhoods for regeneration

In 2008, the HCA and WCC commissioned Broadway Malyan and Tribal to undertake a study to identify a programme of intervention for Neighbourhood Housing Regeneration in Wolverhampton.

This identified a shortlist of four main priority areas for renewal and redevelopment – further information for each is provided in section 7: 32

Heath Town Bilston Blakenhall and All Saints Whitmore Reans

The regeneration and development of these areas utilising a whole neighbourhood approach will support Wolverhampton’s economic ambitions by improving the urban environment and housing offer will make the city a more attractive place to live and work. The LIP recognises the significant role that Wolverhampton Homes could play in the long term management and stewardship of these renewal areas.

Existing stock - Private housing A number of areas adjacent to, but not part of, the key intervention areas contain some of the worst condition private housing. Some level of abandonment of poor properties has led to low quality short term private renting which is having an adverse effect on the communities living there. The decline in the economic circumstances of many residents in the City means that there will be less scope, going forward, for them to invest in their homes.

The Council is therefore planning relatively small-scale intervention in these areas to assist home owners and improve the quality of the private rented sector – this is to prevent these poor, largely private sector, neighbourhoods from undermining the investment made by the larger redevelopment and regeneration schemes. Protecting the large scale regeneration investment will require gap-funding of around £3m in addition to other small-scale resources secured from the WM Regional Assembly.

Existing Stock - Decent homes and retrofit programmes A key priority for Wolverhampton is the delivery of the Decent Homes programme by 2012 through Wolverhampton Homes. The delivery of this programme supports the Neighbourhood approach to renewal. Significant work has been undertaken on the social housing stock. However the programme is at risk due to gaps in the funding programme, a result of shortfall from WCC capital investment recycling. The partners recognise this issue and the LIP will seek to ensure that the gaps are offset by evaluating the wider stock status. Some of the gaps in the investment plans may be met through the delivery of an asset backed vehicle, initially to undertake the redevelopment of Heath Town and through bringing voids back into use by investing in Retrofit schemes.

The new coalition government has signalled an intention to keep the momentum on retrofit programmes, due to the significant carbon footprint of existing homes. In line with CLG’s Carbon Reduction Delivery Plan, the initial focus will be on insulating homes, with a later focus on renewable technologies.

WCC and the HCA are working with Wolverhampton Homes, AWM, Sandwell MBC and RP partners and several local and regional partners to develop a large scale pilot programme of retrofitting existing stock to reduce carbon emissions, help elevate fuel poverty and disseminate learning across the West Midlands regarding retrofit technologies. This is in preparation for a major programme to retrofit the existing housing in both across all sectors.

This programme is currently at the pilot stage and the costs have not yet been quantified. Capital investment is currently being sought from a variety of sources – including from Europe and energy companies – to expand the scope of this work and 33

eventually to deliver a city-wide retrofit programme. It will be integrated with the decent homes programme to go ‘beyond decent homes’. It will also seek to support the creation and maintenance of a market for local and regional suppliers of green technologies.

In addition this will support local economic development across Wolverhampton as it will help create and secure local jobs in the local supply chain and up skill this emerging sector.

Priority 3 – Affordability and accessibility

The Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) for the Central sub region and housing needs study for Wolverhampton have together provided evidence of the City’s needs for affordable housing –are621 affordable units per annum. In terms of numbers of affordable general purpose homes, the intention is to provide:

140 affordable homes in year 2009/10 (163 achieved))

246 affordable homes in year 2010/11 (127 homes forecast to be delivered as at July 2010)

a minimum of 280 affordable homes in each of years 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14

The figures above demonstrate that affordable housing demand in Wolverhampton is not being met by current build rates. Build rates have been considerable impacted by the recession and the financial viability of schemes to deliver S106 affordable homes. In order to address this situation the HCA and WCC propose to use innovative methods to bring land forward for development in the LIP spatial locations.

In order to balance up the numbers of affordable family housing in the city, the additional homes built will be 3+ bedrooms. There are sufficient numbers of smaller units in the city; so these will only be encouraged where they are replacing demolished homes. The mix of housing types, including the numbers of bedrooms required will be reviewed through the LIP review process each year in the light of the actual building levels that have taken place, the changing composition of the City’s population and the progress made towards the vision.

Affordability remains a challenge in Wolverhampton as low incomes are prevalent. Therefore the provision of LCHO products is widely viewed as a priority to ensure people who are in employment and on lower incomes have opportunities to purchase their home.

Priority 4 – Vulnerable and Minority Groups

Older People: Wolverhampton has a considerable and growing older population. WCC is reviewing both the housing offer and the support and care requirements. It has been identified that bungalows are popular with older people; the intention is to deliver a mix of bungalows and flatted accommodation with access to gardens across the city. It is also the intention to provide warden services in neighbourhoods across the City, rather than construct new sheltered housing schemes. This move to ‘Sheltered Neighbourhoods’ will enable people to remain living in their own homes. An assessment of Extracare facilities will take place but at present there are no 34

requirements to increase this type of accommodation. This is a result of considerable HCA investment into Extracare schemes over the past few years. Examples of these include (Low Hill, Mayfields, Bushbury and Pine Court)

Learning difficulties: A need has been identified in the city for the provision of specialist accommodation for people with learning disabilities. The strategy involves the provision of new accommodation within existing communities, it is intended that while these buildings will be built to Lifetime Homes standards, some specific requirements for example bungalows will need to be accommodated. In addition dementia is becoming more prevalent amongst the growing elderly population and a requirement for specialist accommodation is envisaged.

Homelessness: Although the Homelessness statistics have stabilised within Wolverhampton as a result of successful prevention measures, the problem is still significant. The appropriateness of the accommodation offer is not fit for purpose in many cases, especially amongst the 16-25 year old bracket. The replacement of the existing First Avenue hostel is a priority. Better access to homes that are suitable for people moving on from hostels into more settled accommodation is also a priority, as is the provision of suitable floating support to help them to resettle.

Gypsies and travellers: Wolverhampton has traditionally had a Gypsy and Traveller community and one large permanent gypsy sites exists in the Low Hill area of the City. Across the Black Country there is a need for more residential pitches over the next 5 years. A recent survey has indicated there are 58 unauthorised pitches in the city. Wolverhampton is working in partnership with other local authorities across the West Midlands to make planned provision for an additional 36 new gypsy and traveller pitches over the period 2008-18.

BME Communities: Wolverhampton has a large and growing BME population dispersed across the city. These areas are already incorporated into the LIP spatial priorities outlines in section 7. Issues of ethnicity and community cohesion will therefore need to be considered as an integral element of the regeneration proposals. In particular attention will be paid to culturally sensitive design issues, including housing types and tenures.

Priority 5 – Place making, Regeneration and Sustainability

Place making and the sustainability of local communities will be embedded within the spirit of the Wolverhampton LIP. WCC are already committed to this and the theme is embedded in the latest Housing Strategy. This is a cross cutting thematic priority that will be at the heart of all of the indentified spatial priorities. For each priority area the principles of good place making practice will be embedded to address the local challenges and create balanced communities.

The wider setting for housing, the neighbourhood has a huge bearing on people and how places function and develop. WCC are committed and will work in partnership with the HCA to develop well designed places which support the integration of people of different backgrounds and provide opportunities for economic prosperity. The following sets out the key principles that will underpin the priorities identified in the Local Investment Plan.

35

Infrastructure: The infrastructure requirements that accompany new housing will be planned ahead to ensure existing roads, doctors surgeries, education and other services are not over stretched when additional housing comes forward. Green lifestyle requirements will also be integrated into the culture of the priority locations. The quality and design of the homes will also be carried out in conjunction with HCA quality standards an example of this is the collaborative approach we are taking in the delivery of new housing schemes in All Saints. The provision of new housing will also be linked to local employment initiatives with local housing providers being asked to ensure an employment dividend is generated.

Mix and layout: The mix and layout of all new developments within the priority areas will be carried out under the principle of supporting ambition and ensuring integration. The size, tenure, type of housing being provided should improve the overall mix of the particular neighbourhood while supporting Wolverhampton’s overall ambitions. It is reasonable that some places may have a higher concentration of a particular type of tenure of property which appeals to a certain group to deliver the city’s overall vision. For example accommodation that appeals to the retention of new graduates.

Accessible, inclusive, well designed neighbourhoods: To ensure the priorities for the LIP are developed into places where people will want to live, high priority will be placed upon the quality of shared spaces, parks, communal areas to enhance the look and feel of the priority neighbourhoods. It is also vital that a range of connectivity solutions are provided to ensure the more deprived parts of the city are linked to areas of economic regeneration.

Well managed, safe and secure public realm: Well managed, clean, safe residential areas are an important element of the overall housing and place offer. WCC are committed to ensure this theme is fulfilled within the priority areas. This involves a commitment to maintaining and improving the quality of the environment. The HCA’s experience in developing long term stewardship vehicles in new developments will be used to support this key objective.

7 LOCAL INVESTMENT PLAN SPATIAL PRIORITIES

In total, there are six spatial areas where major investment in regeneration and development, include significant investment in housing, will take place. Each of these is described in more detail in Appendix F.

Not all of these will proceed simultaneously for a variety of reasons, one of which is the limits on capital resource. It has therefore been necessary to prioritise these further to establish approximately the rate at which they will progress and how they will be phased. This is so that the HCA and partners can ensure they are putting the right levels of effort and investment into each development in a timely way.

Appendix G sets out the history of how the spatial locations were chosen in the first place. It includes a set of seven criteria against which each spatial area is being assessed, and provides a detailed assessment of each area against each of the criteria. The criteria are:

Strategic criteria

36

a) Significance of the site in delivering economic prosperity to the City, Black Country and wider region (i.e. improving quality of place to attract business leaders of today and in the future, reverse out migration, create jobs, raise income levels) b) Scale and impact – and therefore ability to make a difference and contribute to meeting housing need, taking into account its location / proximity to existing interventions c) Location and availability of sites for housing – informed by the SHLAA d) Degree of influence over land holdings to enable regeneration to take place

Operational criteria

e) Potential for coordination – with (i) other large scale investment programmes eg. health, education, (ii) smaller scale revenue funding and (iii) partners’ commitment to investment and deliver to deliver Total Capital/Place and place-making approach – particularly taking into account other money already committed f) Readiness – progress already made towards starting on site g) Ability to deliver the development, once started on site

The table below describes the development in each of the areas, gives the priority designated to each by ranking them A, B, or C, and summarises the reasons for that designation. Priority A – high priority, Priority B – Medium priority, Priority C – Low Priority

City Centre and Canalside development – Priority A

Description Summary of priority assessment

Consists of a number of proposals that Wolverhampton’s future economic are coordinated and complementary and success rests on the transformation of its each of which makes a unique City Centre and connection to other contribution to create a 21st century City places of strategic significance. This Centre. Improved ‘quality of place’ and large-scale programme of change will accessibility is a common theme. They deliver a modern, exciting and energetic include: place for people to live, work and play. The Retail Quarter Without it, the population will continue to Civic Quarter decline as people search of more Eastern Gateway confident and vibrant places in which to Western Quarter live their lives and spend their money. Creative Quarter St. Georges St John’s City Centre West / Chapel Ash City Centre North / Canalside

Bilston and Bilston Urban Village – Priority A

Description Summary of priority assessment

There will be a whole new community The Bilston Corridor project is one of adjacent to the existing town centre of three strategic sites that is anticipated to

37

Bilston, 4 miles from the City Centre. A contribute to increased economic range of new community facilities – prosperity, for local people and having an including a leisure centre, school, primary impact across the West Midlands. It will and community care centre – will serve deliver a ‘whole neighbourhood both existing residents and new residents approach’, fulfilling the Total Place / who move into the 900 planned new Capital and place making requirements homes. The existing Town Centre will be of the HCA, and the change that is upgraded and the area will be a focus for planned will transform a very deprived leisure and retail. It will also be well part of the City. The City Council owns connected to Wolverhampton, much of the land and has a high degree Birmingham and other towns by the tram of influence over the site as a whole. and more accessible to cyclists and Development partners have been pedestrians. appointed and the scheme is ready to go. This project will contribute to providing the new housing offer Wolverhampton requires to accommodate those people looking to work in the expanding industries at i54 and in the City Centre.

Heath Town – Priority A

Description Summary of priority assessment

The vision for Heath Town is major The regeneration of Heath Town is physical transformation. Unattractive and overdue. While a solution was not initially unpopular medium-rise council-owned identified, a lot of work has been carried homes will be demolished and replaced out since 2008 to find one. Although with a mix homes for sale and to rent – progress on the Local Housing Company including over 50% market homes and has slowed, other routes are showing some intermediate housing. The local promise and the council may be able to environment will also be transformed, undertake strategic land acquisitions to hugely improving the quality of place and support delivery of the necessary new medical facilities, a school and other regeneration of both Heath Town and services are included in the proposals. Canalside. Transformation of the site Many existing tenants would be would have a positive impact on the three rehoused in new modern high quality adjacent schemes – the City Centre, homes and overall levels of deprivation Bilston Corridor and Stafford Road will be much lower. Corridor.

Stafford Road Corridor – Priority B

Description Summary of priority assessment

Plans for development of the corridor fall This is a highly important strategic site into a number schemes. Housing-led supporting the City’s planned growth in developments include New Park Village / economic competitiveness. It will Goodyear and Fordhouses and accommodate most of the new homes for employment-led schemes include people attracted to employment Dunstall Park, Oxley and the i54 at opportunities on the new i54 business Junction 2 of the M54. The transport park and will be a showcase location as systems along the Stafford Road will also people enter the City from the north. It be improved. also links many other important economic sites.

However, existing development sites are 38

under private sector ownership and the identified future redevelopment proposals in the BCIP will require site assembly and potentially CPO which is likely to affect the timescales.

Blakenhall and All Saints – Priority B

Description Summary of priority assessment

A collection of residential While this area continues to be a priority neighbourhoods interspersed with for redevelopment, the recent investment industrial land. This is a New Deal for (£53m over 10 years) has had a positive Communities area and has already impact on a relatively deprived area. It is received significant investment into the less crucial for the economic success of provision of education and health the City then the development of other facilities. The area provides an sites, and for these reasons, it has been opportunity for housing renewal on placed a slightly lower down the priority redundant industrial land and the list. Building on the existing pilot project redevelopment of the former Blakenhall the area has the potential for a major Gardens estate. stock retrofit programme in future years.

Whitmore Reans – Priority C

Description Summary of priority assessment

A collection of neighbourhoods and The area is at an early stage of feasibility industrial estates with poor quality open and appraisal work. There is not yet a space and streetscape. Intervention Masterplan or development proposals but already includes a BSF and LIFT sites. several sites provide opportunity for The existing stock could also provide an housing renewal to take place. opportunity for a wider retrofit programme.

8 SHARED PRINCIPLES OF INVESTMENT AND DELIVERY MECHANISMS

Wolverhampton City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency have together agreed a set of shared principles upon which investment will be made. Some of them are general principles and some are more specific, based on particular themes. They are:

General principles ... Wolverhampton and HCA will:

1. use intelligence about the correlations relating to quality of place, housing aspirations and economic competitiveness to plan and deliver regeneration and development in order to maximise the City’s and sub region’s economic fortunes

39

2. endeavour to maximise value-for-money by undertaking a Total Capital/Place approach, coordinating and integrating investment across public agencies and council functions 3. adopt a place-making approach to delivering regeneration and development in all spatial areas (i) involving existing (and future) citizens so that they are able to shape the places in which they live and (ii) coordinating the activities and investment of all relevant agencies and partners (see http://www.futurecommunities.net) 4. ensure the built form and design of new and redeveloped housing and neighbourhoods reflects citizens’ aspirations – actively asking people what they want now and in the future, in addition to evidence on requirements obtained through the Housing Market Assessment 5. engage with providers, community and other public agencies to enable regeneration and housing delivery, in order to meet the diverse housing needs of the City 6. work closely with other partners on tender briefs and joint commissioning 7. work together and with all partners to help enable public investment and will use our combined skills and expertise to broker partnerships and investment to facilitate the delivery of the priorities contained within the plan 8. endeavour to maximise private leverage for public money in all developments

Specific thematic principles ... Wolverhampton and HCA will:

9. reduce carbon emissions by adopting environmental and sustainability standards (eg. Retrofit) 10. use public sector land assets, remediate council-owned land and undertake site assembly to deliver affordable housing 11. achieve the requirements of the HCA/CABE’s core design and sustainability standards by building expectations into tendering processes so that partners commit to meeting these standards (see current consultation http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/design-sustainability-standards) 12. provide local employment and apprenticeship opportunities by making this a key condition of partners receiving public money for housing

13. work with housing delivery partners and investors to develop new methods of financing housing and regeneration schemes

Potential LIP Delivery Mechanisms:

The HCA and WCC will work together via the LIP to ensure that co-investment is at the core of delivering the priorities in Wolverhampton. The contribution of assets such as finance, land and buildings will enable the most appropriate mechanisms for delivery to be determined for each priority. The effective joining up of sources of public funding, alongside private sector partners’ investment, will be central to how the HCA and WCC will determine funding going forward with this Plan. The following outlines some of the potential delivery mechanisms that could be employed to deliver the priorities contained within the LIP. The list is by no means exhaustive and is likely to evolve over the life of the LIP and in line with government and local policy development.

40

1 Comprehensive City Council Led Joint Venture: To deliver the comprehensive regeneration of the Heath Town area of the city it is proposed to develop a Joint Venture vehicle utilising council owned assets and private sector investment. The vehicle has the potential to deliver 1,300 new homes over a 20 year period. Further details are outlined in appendix F

2 Development Partner Panel: Public sector owned land offers the potential to deliver both regeneration schemes and housing growth in the spatial priorities identified in this plan. To ensure expedient development takes place, it is proposed that the HCA, WCC and other partners will utilise the HCA DPP.

3 Innovative Risk and Reward Funding models: A common issue facing development in the Black Country is that of financial viability of development sites due to the industrial legacy and remediation requirements. For example where applicable some priority projects may benefit from utilising an equity investment model to promote the delivery of new homes while delivering shared returns over the life of the project.

4 Joint Commissioning Approach: When delivering against the agreed priorities in the LIP the HCA and WCC will look to adopt a strategic commissioning approach. This intention of this approach will outline what is to be achieved on a particular scheme, agreeing how best to use combined resources to do it, and then acting as commissioning organisations to select the most appropriate partners to work with to ensure that the ambitions for the scheme are realised. This approach will involve both the HCA and WCC working to commission the most suitable partners to deliver the goals stated for a specific scheme rather than reactively awaiting for a proposal.

5 Enabling Development: Not all projects require assets or financial intervention to ensure delivery, capacity can also be an issue. A key roll for both WCC and HCA will be to enable development to take place. This could involve the utilisation of HCA in house expertise in areas such as design/place making, finance or through ATLAS for planning expertise.

9 CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT

All the projects and interventions represented in this Local Investment Plan have been proposed with the support of local partners and after engagement with the local community. Council departments have been brought together through the LIP engagement process while delivery and other external partners have been engaged through the Wolverhampton Strategic Partners and the Preferred Partners Forum. A full consultation of the LIP with local stakeholders and delivery partners took place in August 2010. The feedback from this process will be managed through the proposed governance structure. Along with the HCA, AWM, and the LSP have also been key partners and engaged throughout.

Coordination through good partnership working will become even more important in the future, in order to embed the principles of Total Place/Capital and to continue working in this joined up fashion. Going forward, the intention is to build joint 41

investment maps and plans that will include health, transport, education, leisure, housing and economic development funding and will include both public and private investment. Continued engagement will take place through the existing governance forums and WSHP. However governance of the LIP will be reviewed following the Comprehensive Spending Review.

It is the intention to engage further through existing neighbourhood level community groups to ensure the community remains at the heart of the development and regeneration process.

10 MONITORING AND REVIEW

Through the existing LSP governance arrangements that are adopted and carried out by partners, the HCA and partners will jointly review the outputs and outcomes on a regular basis for each thematic and spatial priority and how these projects are contributing to the overall golden thread of economic regeneration of Wolverhampton.

11 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE/DELIVERY ARRANGEMENTS

Once the LIP and the subsequent Local Investment Agreements (LIAs) have been signed by partners the Wolverhampton Strategic Housing Partnership will be tasked with the governance of the LIP. This group reports directly into the Wolverhampton Partnership. A Housing and Regeneration Board will consist of HCA, Wolverhampton City Council, AWM, Wolverhampton Homes, preferred RP’s, Private sector representation and members of the Local Strategic Partnership and will be tasked to deliver the LIP. It is proposed that this will be sub divided into 6 project groups responsible for the delivery of the 6 spatial priorities. The details of this governance structure are still to be agreed between partners, however it is envisaged that a structure will be in place by the time the LIA is signed. The project groups will be tasked to determine delivery mechanisms and detailed funding proposals.

LIP Governance and Delivery Structure

Wolverhampton Partnership Board

Wolverhampton Strategic Housing and Regeneration Board

Heath Town Bilston Project Heath Town Stafford Road ABCD Project Whitmore Reans Project group:Lead group: Lead WCC Project group: Project group: group: Lead NDC Project Group: WCC and AWM Lead WCC and Lead: WCC and WCC Lead WCC HCA

42

Appendix A: Progress in achieving Wolverhampton’s vision

In 2000, WCC started to invest in housing on area-base strategy, concentrating investment in priority neighbourhoods. Major improvements have taken place in regenerating the All Saints and Blakenhall through the New Deal for Communities programme (ABCD) and the Low Hill/East Park areas of the City. The NDC has seen a £53.5m investment into the area to bring forward projects tackle crime, boost education, improve health, create jobs and ensure decent, warm homes.

To achieve Wolverhampton’s ambitious transformational plans, local partners established the Wolverhampton Development Company in 2008 which provides opportunities to attract new businesses to the city and in doing so create sustainable economic growth. Progress has been made in relation to the Interchange, i 54 and City Gate.

Progress has also been made in relation to Housing growth where a total of 1558 new homes have built, over the three year period from 2005/06 – 2007/08 of which 73% of new dwellings achieved commendations through CABE Building for Life annual monitoring. Of these new dwellings, 15% were affordable (10% for rent and 5% shared ownership/equity).

Wolverhampton Homes is well on the way to achieving the demands of the Decent Homes Programme. Tenant satisfaction has increased from 74% to 83% overall. Of the 23,700 properties managed by the ALMO, 8,127 have already achieved the standard. It is forecast that 22,500 will have been modernised by the end of 2012 providing HCA funding continues beyond 2010/11. If HCA funding stops in 2010, potentially 7000 homes will be without essential improvements. WH are also making a huge contribution towards local employment and training, to date WH are now employing 750 full time staff and have created 61 apprenticeships for local tenants. The Single Conversation therefore recognises the contribution that the ALMO can make to deliver a joined up approach to regeneration in the priority areas.

The HCA has also supported WCC’s regeneration programme through the Kickstart initiative at Showell Park and are working in partnership to investigate the viability of an asset backed vehicle in the Heath Town area of the City. Plans for this are progressing alongside a Local Asset Backed Vehicle to secure the City’s wider redevelopment.

Wolverhampton CC have also secured funding from the West Midlands ‘Kick Start’ Programme for a range of affordable home loan products to assist vulnerable and low income home owners to undertake works to their homes. Improving them to the decent homes standard, installing energy efficiency and low carbon technology measures, security measures to prevent burglary and protect from domestic violence and emergency works to address urgent matters of health, safety and welfare. Over 600 long term empty properties have been brought back into use between 2005 and 2009 and this work is being taken to the next level by offering a realistic management opportunity for owners of empty properties through a proactive private sector leasing scheme.

The LIFT programme represents an investment of £30 million of PFI funding by the Council and a similar amount by Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust (PCT) in the development of 6 new state of the art health and social care buildings. These buildings will house existing Health and Community services currently being delivered from sites across the City alongside services offered by the PCT. The new buildings offer an opportunity for efficiencies to be made by integrated and new ways of working. 43

As part of the Building Schools for the Future programme WCC has appointed “Inspiredspaces” as the Preferred Bidder to deliver the cities £370 million BSF Programme. The programme will see the re-modelling of all 26 Wolverhampton schools which serve secondary aged pupils. It is anticipated that work will start on the first projects during the summer of 2010.

Appendix B: City wide evidence base – Picture of Wolverhampton

Figure 1: Areas of the highest levels of Worklessness

Figure 2: City Wide Unemployment rates

44

Figure 3 Educational attainment

45

Figure 4 Health Deprivation

46

47

Figure 5 : Crime Deprivation

48

Neighbourhood Estate Name %Social %Most Housing Deprived (IMD)

Bilston Bilston Town/Greencroft 50 3

Bilston St Chads 50 4

Bilston Carder Crescent/Old Bradley 50 10

Bilston Bradley/Rocket Pool 50 10

Bilston Bilston Town <50 5

Bilston Lunt <50 10

Bilston Bradley/Old Bradley <50 10

Central South Bilston Town/Millfields 50 3

Central South Ettingshall 50 5

Central South Caledonia 50 10

Central South Johnson street 50 10

Central South Rough Hills 50 10

Central South Blakenhall <50 10

Central South Parkfields/ rough Hills <50 10

Dovecotes Pendeford 60 10

Dovecotes Pendeford 50 10

Heath Town Heath Town/Lincoln House/Tremont House 70 3

Heath Town Old Heath 60 3

Heath Town Park Village 50 10

Heath Town Old Heath/Deans Road 50 10

Heath Town East Park 50 10

Heath Town East park/Stowlawn <50 10

Low Hill Low Hill/Lower 5th Avenue 70 3

Low Hill The Scotlands 70 3

Low Hill Bushbury Hill 70 4

49

Low Hill Low Hill 60 10

Low Hill Bushbury Triangle 50 10

Low Hill Underhill 50 10

Low Hill The Scotlands 50 10

Low Hill Lower Fifth Ave <50 3

Low Hill Park Village <50 10

Low Hill Bushbury Triangle <50 10

Merridale/Chapel Ash Chapel Ash/Graisley 60 4

Merry Hill Warstones/Merry Hill 60 10

Whitmore Reans Whitmore Reans 50 5

Whitmore Reans Spring Valley/Faulkland crescent <50 5

Whitmore Reans Walsall Street Pond Lane <50 5

Appendix C: List of LSOA areas falling into the top 10% most deprived in the country and associated percentage of social housing.

50

Appendix D: Groupings of 10% most Deprived Neighbourhoods in Wolverhampton

51

Appendix E: WDC Priority Projects across the city

Commercial developments

i54 – a flagship technology park at Junction 2 of the M54, 3 miles north of the City. The 91 hectare site will be transformed into a thriving employment base creating over 6000 jobs City Gate/Fordhouses – a £70m hotel and office development that makes a visual statement to the north of the City on a 12 acre site on the Stafford Road City Centre West – early stage plans for the transformation of an underused strategic site positioned between the ring road and retail core

Mixed use developments

Royal Hospital – the Grade II listed Royal Hospital and adjacent land, within the ABCD area, will undergo a £50m transformation to new housing, Primary Care Trust offices and public open spaces. Interchange – a £180m scheme connecting the city centre with new bus and rail stations will also include new apartments, offices, leisure facilities, Canalside ‘cafe quarter’ and improved public realm ABCDi – an existing New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme investing £53.5 million (for ABCDi and ii) in social, economic and physical renewal through range of site redevelopments Bluebrick / Low Level Station – the centrepiece of the Canalside quarter, this £30m scheme will bring the 19th century station to life, incorporating a casino, restaurant and bar as well as 200 homes

Retail developments

Summer Row – a new £300m retail quarter at the centre of the City and blending with the existing street fabric. It includes 85 shops, leisure facilities, cafes, bars, apartments and car parking Raglan Street – redevelopment of a 20 acre site that will expand the city centre core beyond the ring road, providing a new supermarket, other retail units and 120 new homes

Residential developments

Goodyear site – the £40m redevelopment of a large, 85 acre brownfield site, to provide 650 homes, a new school, retail facilities and a park. Canalside Quarter – an assembly of schemes – including the Springfield Brewery, Victoria Hall, Bluebrick / Low level station and the Premier Travel Inn – making it a hub of activity Victoria Hall – a student village comprising 750 units in 4 buildings, including one of the West Midlands tallest buildings, situated within the Canalside quarter. ASDCii – improvements to residential areas, including new housing, integrating with the Royal Hospital scheme, linking to local commercial centres and creating workspace

52

Appendix F: The six spatial priorities

Spatial Priority 1 – City Centre / Canalside Priority A

Vision

By 2026, the proposed City Centre and Canal-side developments will deliver a wholesale transformation, giving people a wholly different experience of a confident City.

It will have more exciting indoor and outdoor space to show off the City’s and the Black Country’s creative and cultural attractions, a modern state-of-the-art shopping centre and other quality shops, better leisure facilities, 21st Century offices, popular urban-residential areas and a modern city-scale public transport interchange. Its design will promote better accessibility for walkers and cyclists, and will bring a more open feel to the City Centre.

The redevelopment will provide a unique, more energetic and more interesting experience of the City Centre. More people will want to, and have the opportunity to, live and work in Wolverhampton, and more visitors will be drawn in, creating more market opportunities for Wolverhampton and the Black Country as a whole.

The development is broken down into a number of geographic proposals that are coordinated and complementary. Taken together, they will result in the desired transformation. Improved ‘quality of place’ and accessibility is a common theme, and each proposal makes a unique contribution:

The Retail Quarter – enhance people’s experience of Wolverhampton as a centre for shopping Civic Quarter – enhance the quality of public life and people’s connection with culture Eastern Gateway – improved connection within and outside City with new transport interchange Western Quarter – increase the size and quality of the City’s office/commercial offer Creative Quarter – showcase for the arts and focus for creative work, retail and lifestyles St. Georges – good access to leisure and learning experiences St John’s – cultivate its reputation as a historic urban village and specialist retail quarter City Centre West / Chapel Ash – development of university quarter City Centre North / Canalside – high quality Canalside residential / mixed use quarter

Works will be also undertaken on parts of the ring road to loosen its constraining influence.

Area Profile

Wolverhampton’s main shopping area is currently perceived as being inferior to Merry Hill and Birmingham City Centre, and it therefore doesn’t attract significant business from the surrounding areas. There is also a lack of quality restaurants, leisure and health/fitness facilities in the centre. Poor perceptions of personal safety also detract

53

from the City’s ability to play its role in making Wolverhampton ‘a place where people can thrive’.

There are, however, many positive attributes that provide many opportunities for Wolverhampton to develop. The proximity of the mainline station to the City Centre, as well as to the motorway network, provides excellent access to most parts of the UK and there are good bus links within the City. There is an excellent music scene, good education and learning facilities, many independent, culturally diverse shops and a budding creative industries sector.

There is strong demand from businesses for freehold offices (not for rent) and significant interest from hotel chains. Unlike many city centres, there is space for new development – specifically there is capacity (identified in Black Country Study) for net additional 45,000 sq m of retail space and 70,000 – 80,000 sq m of retail/leisure space to 2021.

Current and Potential interventions

The proposals for Wolverhampton City Centre and the Canalside quarter are transformational. The investment plan is intended to create a series of opportunities to excite, create and nurture markets and drive forward transformational change. Proposals for the different quarters are:

Retail quarter – expand the existing retail core (the Summer Row development) including a cinema or other leisure facility, remodel the Wulfrun and Mander Centres and transform Queen’s Square into a pedestrian-friendly commercial urban city space. Niche shopping areas to the East and West of the centre will also be promoted.

Civic Quarter – remodel the ground floor of the Civic Centre into an attractive public space for exhibitions, cafes etc. Transform Civic Square into a venue for outdoor events. Build a new striking educational/commercial building to the north of the Civic Centre that will be accessed by a new landmark bridge over the Seven Saints Boulevard, to Molineux. The new building will be a statement of Wolverhampton’s University City status.

Eastern Gateway – build a new high quality mixed use development (office, retail, leisure, residential) and build a new public transport interchange that includes the mainline station, bus station and a new metro station.

Western Quarter – remodel and expand the existing offices surrounding Waterloo Road, including the Magistrates Law courts. Remodel the down-graded ring road and the Chapel Ash roundabout. There will be a strong green link with West Park and a new urban square.

Creative Quarter – remodel car park and wider area to the north of Broad Street, building new apartments and workspaces, evolve the evening economy within the existing streets, develop connections across the Boulevard providing better access to residents in the canal-side quarter.

St. John’s – improve the public ream around the church and around the fine-grain niche retail to the west, providing better links into the City’s expanded retail core

City Centre North / Canalside / University – develop new residential, leisure and employment opportunities on the Canalside site adjacent to the transport interchange and the university – maximising reuse of historic buildings eg. the Low Level Station 54

and Springfield Brewery schemes. Improve access to the City Centre. Upgrade the University campus, consolidating it within the wider Canalside, and improve the connections to the City core.

Cambridge Street site - Affordable housing scheme located with Canalside qtr district. Potential to deliver 40 affordable homes.

Key partners and roles

HCA Support residential opportunities which link to economic growth of city centre. Enable and assist the delivery of affordable housing offer by bringing forward land opportunities for development in Canalside qtr.

WCC Key land owner and enabler of development opportunities in the city centre. Lead role in the development of the Masterplan and AAP.

Neptune Developer of transport Interchange development

University Major land owner to the west of the city.

WW Football Key partner in delivering city centre growth across the ring Club road.

Ask of HCA

The HCA is investing £800k to develop a Masterplan for the Canalside Quarter and this funding will be drawn down in 2010/11.

The HCA will also be providing ~£66,000 to generate an Area Action Plan for the City Centre.

Provide assistance in Master planning of Canalside qtr.

Provide support and expertise in bringing forward land assets for the development of housing offer in Canalside qtr.

Support WCC capacity to deliver by utilising HCA delivery tools and expertise.

Outcomes

More people living, working, going out in the City Centre More exciting, creative, energetic City Centre – more interesting things to do More economically competitive – more attractive place for businesses to be located High quality opportunities for local people More visitors to the City Increased pride in Wolverhampton’s cultural heritage More confidence in Wolverhampton’s economic and cultural future New housing offer to support the economic growth of the city centre

55

Outputs

New transport interchange More, better and more varied shopping facilities Potential to deliver upto 2,130 new homes of which 1,200 could be delivered in Canalside Quarter. . Better leisure facilities Better urban-living offer More places to showcase what Wolverhampton and the Black Country has to offer Better access to and from, and within Wolverhampton Better integration of facilities

Delivery timeframes

2026

Indicative Investment

Development Proposal Project value Funding status Start on site

Summer Row £300,000,000 WCC TBC TBC

Interchange Phase 1 £120,000,000 Approved On site WCC/AWM/Neptune Interchange Phase 2 £150,000,000 TBC TBC WCC/AWM/Neptune

Victoria Halls £35,000,000 Completed Completed Victoria Halls Penn Road Island £5,000,000 WCC Approved On site

Molinuex Football Stadium £40,000,000 WWFC TBC TBC

Spatial Priority 2 – Bilston and Bilston Urban Village Priority A

Vision

Bilston and the adjacent area of Bilston Urban Village is one of 20 Inward Investment Locations identified as regional priorities through the Regional Funding Advice. It is the largest mixed use development proposed in the Black Country covering an area in excess of 43 hectares,

The planned interventions are, in time, anticipated to change the fortunes of the wider Bilston area by attracting new economically active people to live there. A new, attractive residential and employment district served well by new amenities (Bilston Urban Village) will be built close to Bilston Town Centre which will also be

56

rejuvenated. The two will be connected by a high quality pedestrian walkway giving residents easy access to the heart of the town centre and to support and enhance the economic vitality of the main retail and commercial centre.

The connections of the Bilston area with Wolverhampton will also be improved through new residential areas, networks of green infrastructure and other services, focussed on the metro-route and canal corridor.

The development is intended to contribute to the Black Country Studies 4 main objectives: to reverse the trend of people leaving the Black Country to raise income levels by ensuring better skills and types of jobs to attract and retain people with higher level skills (change socio-economic mix) to protect and enhance the environment and create a safe, attractive and healthy place to live and work.

Area Profile

Bilston is the largest district centre in Wolverhampton and is situated in the south east of the City, 4 miles from the City Centre and adjoining parts of Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley. It includes the town centre, including a bustling shopping centre and its surrounding residential and industrial areas.

Bilston as a whole has a strong community spirit. It forms part of the wards of Bilston East, Bilston North and Ettingshall. The residential areas are varied but include large amounts of mono-tenure estates in the south (Bradley/Rocket Pool) more mixed tenure in the north, with areas of more recent residential development, such as Loxdale Sidings, Sedgemoor Park, The Villages, off Millfields Road and at The Lunt. There are large areas of derelict land awaiting development, particularly Ward Street, Bankfield Works (former Sankey land) and Bilston Urban Village.

The losses of the longstanding mining and steel industries, together with other smaller scale closures, has led to a significant level of long term unemployment often extending through 2 or 3 generations, so that Bilston exhibits a high degree of deprivation across all indices. In particular this is evident in very low educational achievement, with a low skills base, high levels of obesity and teenage pregnancies and high levels of long term ill health.

Bilston has for many years been characterised by a predominantly white C-D Population. While there has been little in the way of entrepreneurial spirit, there are signs that this is changing with the advent of a more mixed population. Particularly on the newer estates the population tends to be more diverse in terms of ethnicity and socio-economic groups. This would suggest that significant new residential development will contribute to the increasing diversity of population in this part of the City.

The area is well connected, with a number of Metro stops on the Wolverhampton to Birmingham Metro line, including Bilston Central. The Wolverhampton to Birmingham Railway line stops are nearby Coseley and it also has a number of arterial roads running through or near it – including Willenhall Road (A454), Bilston Road (A41), Millfields Road (A4039) and the Black Country Route (A463).

Historic infrastructure includes canals and railways dating from the 18th and 19th centuries and these provide significant landscape features. The listed Chillington 57

canal/railway interchange in the north of the area is the last surviving example in the Black Country. There are also some renovated historic buildings.

Current and Potential interventions:

Bilston Town Centre has recently had significant levels of investment in the historic core, focused on the Town Hall and the conservation area. A major Townscape Heritage Initiative scheme has transformed the historic fabric of the area and brought back into use vacant floorspace.

Work on bringing forward complementary activity in The Orchard is now planned with a series of interventions to find new appropriate uses for key buildings and to improve the public realm.

The town centre is likely to be redefined to include the new leisure centre and primary and social care centre and movement within this area is hampered by the Black Country Route which passes through it. The way in which this situation can be improved is currently being investigated and will complement the development of the High Street Link, which is an integral and vital part of the substantial investment being brought forward.

There is a need to refresh the town centre strategy, produced by Taylor Young in 2001, to reflect changes to the town and the development of the Urban Village. This is likely to require at the very least, a new approach to signage and way marking in the town centre to improve the visitor experience and to capitalise on the increased number of visitors.

The main planned Urban Village Development will be brought forward in phases, beginning with the construction of the new Bilston Leisure Centre which is due to open in October 2011.. The overall development will deliver the following:

New Bilston Leisure Centre South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy School Primary and Community Care Centre (South East Wolverhampton) High quality pedestrian link to the High Street Main development – 900 new homes and 17,800 square metres of commercial/mixed use space Major new grey and green infrastructure

In addition there is major support for the town centre, particularly in terms of capacity building for the town centre traders through the Traders’ Forum and other specific areas of support. This is intended to position the town so that it firstly recognises the opportunities presented by the significant investment nearby and secondly, to have the capacity to take advantage of these opportunities.

Key partners and roles:

Partner Roles WCC Enabling development, land assembly and land supply (JV partner in BUV with AWM) 70% owner of Bilston Urban Village site

Joint Venture Agreement with AWM

58

AWM Land owner and funder (JV partner in BUV with WCC) 30% owner of Bilston Urban Village site

Joint Venture Agreement with WCC BSF Construction of new South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy HCA Potential investor – equity investor; NAHP LIFTCo Primary and Community Care Centre WH Delivery of decent homes Places for Development Partner for Bilston Urban Village People Lead development partner – and developer of the affordable housing

Long term manager of the affordable housing Private To develop former industrial and public land holdings. Ward Street and sector Claremont school site and Greenway road. developers Ask from HCA

A £2m financial viability gap has been identified to take forward the infrastructure and assist to remediate land

£66,000 for production of an Area Action Plan through Growth Point allocation.

Support WCC capacity to deliver by utilising HCA delivery tools and expertise.

Offer from WCC

Land, investment, resources enabling.

Outcomes: Improved housing offer to support strategic priorities in Bilston Investment in public buildings, public realm Investment in social capital Improvement to existing stock to alleviate fuel poverty through retrofitting stock.

Community benefits, sustainable community, LAA contributions How the investment relates back to the Sustainable communities plan and what it contributes.

Place making outcomes

A major image-shift for this part of the Black Country Better show-casing of the areas strong-points (eg. Historic canal features)

Outputs Potential to deliver around1,500 new homes across a range of sites including Bilston Urban Village, Ward Street, Greenway Road and Claremont

Provision of new facilities including, primary schools, leisure facilities, improved urban environment. Etc

59

Improved local retail centre.

Delivery timeframes – 10-15 years

Indicative Investment

Development Proposal Project value Funding status Start on site

Bilston Leisure Centre £16.455m Full approval Nov 09

Primary and Community £15m total June 11 Care Centre WCC: £6.3M Outline approval PCT/LIFT: £8.7M Application not yet submitted

South Wolverhampton £30m Outline approval Autumn 09 Academy (enabling)

Late 10 (construction)

High Street Link £3.01m total First acquisition (SPG adopted Jan 10) £1.01m Full Approval Oct 10 £2M – private (developer not yet appointed) Main Site – Enabling and £38m total from Currently 2011 Infrastructure Works WCC and AWM reviewing viability of housing development. Enabling and infrastructure linked to a viable first phase of residential development

Main Development (Bilston Approx £200m Similarly 2011 Urban Village) development dependent on costs(not macro economic quantified in detail) conditions

Police Station £3,500,000 Police TBC

Oxford Street £1,700,000 HCA and Approved On site West Mercia

Bloors site £320,000 Approved On site HCA/Sanctuary

60

Equitable Access Centre £1,000,000 PCT TBC

Spatial Priority 3 – Stafford Road Corridor Priority B

Vision

This Corridor connects the leading edge i54 business hub around Junction 2 of the M54 to the City and University Centre of Wolverhampton and has the flagship Wolverhampton Science Park is at its heart.

By 2026, the Corridor will symbolise the new Black Country. It will be the first experience that many visitors have of the City, and will therefore be developed to very high standards. High quality homes and knowledge-based business will comfortably share a high quality environment with fast, reliable public transport access to the exciting and expanding University-led City Centre of Wolverhampton.

Employment land close to the Stafford Road will have become a high quality employment location with a focus on innovation and knowledge-based industry, through extension of the Wolverhampton Science Park and progressive improvements to the Dunstall Hill and Wulfrun Trading Estates. Strong links between high technology industry and the education sector will have increased skill levels and created new job opportunities for local people. With the Corridor also benefiting from public transport improvements, the overall benefits of investment will be felt in local communities and sustainable transport patterns will be maintained.

New distinctive residential areas and amenities will be created, exhibiting positive aspects of local character and showing off the significant transport heritage that continues to have a powerful presence in the southern part of the corridor. A rejuvenated central area, including the canal, Fowlers Playing Fields and Park Village, will have improved access links to the area east of the railway line, where mixed new residential communities will have been created on surplus employment land. The Birmingham Canal will provide a good quality environmental link between the Corridor and the City Centre.

Area Profile

The Stafford Road Corridor has many positive characteristics including historic buildings and infrastructure, good access, available land and wildlife. More specifically it has

good access to the national motorway network via Junction 2 of the M54 and to Wolverhampton City Centre via Stafford Road high quality office and research & development activity at Wolverhampton Science Park the landmark ‘Goodyear factory’ site with planning permission for mixed use redevelopment including creation of Neighbourhood Park land available for expansion of Wolverhampton Science Park strong and recognisable historic quality of the Park Village., including street pattern and key buildings two monumental 19th century listed railway viaducts and other historic railway infrastructure that are significant landscape features in the southern half of the 61

area. poor quality social housing to the east now benefiting from housing renewal at Bushbury and Low Hill strong industrial stock along Stafford Road and average to good quality industrial accommodation at Dunstall Park Trading Estate – poorer quality industrial accommodation at Park Lace, USAM Trading Estate and Cross Street growing demand for distribution premises Birmingham Canal (Wolverhampton Level), a major heritage anchor and designated Conservation Area containing a large number of statutory Listed Buildings, running through the southern half of the area, linking to the Canalside Quarter of the Wolverhampton City Centre. Crown Street Energy from Waste Facility and Shaw Road HWRC. West Coast Rail Line running through the centre of the area a wildlife corridor together with Fowlers Playing Fields

Current and Potential interventions

Plans for development of the corridor fall into a number schemes. Housing-led developments include New Park Village / Goodyear and Fordhouses and employment-led schemes include Dunstall Park, Oxley and the i54 at Junction 2 of the M54. The transport systems along the Stafford Road will also be improved.

New Park Village / Good year

The existing community at New Park Village will be extended into a large sustainable community development (a further 13.2 ha) built around the canal and containing an expanded waterside science park. A similar residential area, with amenities, will be developed on the adjacent Goodyear site.

Fordhouses

There will be a modest expansion of the existing community at Fordhouses onto a 4ha site. There will be improvements to some existing neighbourhoods such as St Annes and a transformation of the image of the area – since this is the first community on approach to Wolverhampton from the north.

Dunstall Park

This area, which includes the Aldersley Stadium and Dunstall Park Racecourse, will provide expanded and improved sports, leisure and commercial facilities. The area will have sub regional significance combined with important community facilities such as a Sport England ‘community sport hub’. The canal will provide a bio-diverse link, which will be part of the Black Country Urban Park theme.

Oxley

The centre of Oxley, a key node on the Stafford Road Corridor, will be remodelled to provide better access and to create a better environment that supports its commercial and community uses.

Junction 2

The flagship i54 employment site will be built around J2 and the Wolverhampton Business Park will be extended. The development will be take into consideration the

62

requirements of the existing aerospace and other high value manufacturing businesses.

Low Hill- Showell Park

A flagship housing led regeneration scheme in the low Hill area of the city. An Extracare facility has already been constructed with HCA funding. The development of 205 new high quality homes is now underway with HCA funding support through Kickstart and NAHP programmes. Further development opportunities exist on nearby land holdings.

Key partners and roles

HCA Investment partner for regeneration schemes, enabling role to bring forward development opportunities.

St Modwens Major land owner and developer of former Goodyear site and

PCT Development of local health centre in Low Hill

Keepmoat - Delivery of Showell park housing led regeneration scheme. Bromford

WCC Lead of AAP for Stafford Road corridor, enabling development opportunities

Private sector To bring forward opportunities to contribute to improved housing land owners offer in this key regeneration corridor.

Ask of HCA

Enabling and investor role to deliver additional housing sites in this key housing growth and regeneration area. (Low Hill phase 2/Bushbury)The HCA is providing ~£66,000 to fund an Area Action Plan for the Stafford Road Corridor.

HCA gap funding and NAHP to ensure deliver of Showell Park scheme – Committed through Kickstart programme.

Support WCC capacity to deliver by utilising HCA delivery tools and expertise.

Outcomes

Visitors have an excellent impression of Wolverhampton as they drive in from the north Wolverhampton has more employment opportunities for residents and commuters Better-functioning economy Increased economic prosperity for people People can enjoy the historic character of the area more

Outputs

Potential to deliver 770 high quality homes in sustainable residential areas Improved existing residential areas More high quality employment Flagship employment site 63

Better use of Wolverhampton’s heritage in this area

Delivery timeframes upto 2016

Indicative Investment

Development Project value Funding Start on Proposal status site

Goodyear’s £ TBC St Modwens TBC 2011

PCCC £15,000,000 WCC/PCT/LIFT TBC

MHRC £5,000,000 WCC/PCT/LIFT TBC

Equitable Access £1,000,000 PCT TBC Centre

Showell Park £ 20,000,000 Approved On site WCC/HCA/Keepmoat/Accord/Bromford

Spatial Priority 4: Heath Town : Priority A

Vision

Heath Town is one of the most deprived wards within Wolverhampton City and also one of the most deprived wards nationally. Significant investment in training, employment, health and crime reduction over the last 10 years has not resulted in a any discernable change in the deprivation indices compared to the rest of the City. The City Council has concluded that without radical physical change, the Heath Town estate is likely to remain very deprived.

The vision for Heath Town is major physical transformation. Unattractive and unpopular medium-rise council-owned homes will be demolished and replaced with a mix homes for sale and to rent – including some intermediate housing. The local environment will also be transformed, hugely improving the quality of place.

These plans to transform the housing and residential environment form part of a broader improvement plan for Heath Town. A new PCT Multi-Practice medical facility is to be built at the former Duke of York site (~ £5m) and a new British Gas Biomass Boiler will upgrade the Heath Town District system (~£1m). Should this regeneration project proceed, it may be possible to attract Primary Capital Programme investment to offset the costs of a new Primary School envisaged within the redevelopment proposals. It is anticipated that success of this proposal will raise the confidence of developers and act as a catalyst for other redevelopment opportunities.

The intention is to make it more attractive as a place to live for a much wider range of people and in doing so, to reduce deprivation levels in the locality and to close the gap between Heath Town and the rest of the City – a key goal of the Sustainable Community Strategy. Heath Town is close to Wolverhampton City Centre, less than 1 mile from the station and adjacent to the canal-side area. It therefore has the potential to be a desirable residential area with walking access to the City’s 64

amenities, employment centres and transport routes. There will also be an opportunity for the relocation of businesses and the preservation of local employment.

It is anticipated that such a transformation will provide a new housing offer to support the economic regeneration of the city centre and support the agreed objectives for the Black Country.

Area Profile

Heath Town is one of the most deprived wards within Wolverhampton City but also one of the most deprived wards nationally. This statement is confirmed by indices in respect of deprivation, health, employment, educational attainment, housing and child poverty where there are significant gaps between the ward and the rest of the City. For example, in May 2002, the five wards with the highest unemployment rates (Heath Town, Ettingshall, St Peters, Low Hill and Blakenhall) contained 26% of the population of the City but 40.5% of unemployment benefit claimants.

The regeneration of Heath Town is identified by the City Council as a priority area. It is an area in need of transformational change but also with the potential to deliver sub-regional impact and the capacity to deliver urban renaissance.

Current and Potential interventions

The Asset backed vehicle will act as the lead developer for the development of Heath Town. Together these will generate nearly 1,300 new homes, plus associated commercial and other uses over a 20 year period.

The Strategic Business Case, focused on Heath Town has considered the following outputs and outcomes:

the opportunity to bring forward nearly 1280 homes, of which 320 would be affordable rent, 320 intermediate housing and 640 market sale homes. the proposed clearance of 1150 medium and high-rise existing affordable homes in poor state of repair. the acquisition of land to support the programme. the injection of Council owned land valued to support the programme. the re-housing of up to 980 existing tenants into new modern high quality homes. the provision of over 50% market sale homes, in terms of reprovision, into an area currently dominated by affordable rented dwellings. reprovision of employment land to protect local jobs.

Key partners and roles

Asset backed Proposed to be a partnership between WCC and a selected vehicle development to act as lead developer for Heath Town development.

Wolverhampton Land assembly and partner in asset backed vehicle. CC

Registered Investor into and manager of affordable housing element.

65

Provider

HCA Investment partner

Ask of HCA:

It has been assumed for modelling purposes that the Homes and Communities Agency will provide two forms of financial support to the delivery of Heath Town

Social Housing Grant – via the NAHP to fund the affordable housing via an RSL partner. An investment to meet the viability shortfall for the project as a whole. Subject to a State Aid assessment and availability of funds, this could take the form of Infrastructure investment or “Gap Funding”.

The indicative rates of £49,000 SHG per rented unit requested from HCA

We are aware that HCA may wish to move any subsidy provided to projects to an equity investment basis.

It is proposed that the basis of HCA investment is agreed at the Outline Business Case stage.

Support WCC capacity to deliver by utilising HCA delivery tools and expertise.

Outcomes for people

A greater mix of people living in this part of the City – so people are more likely to have neighbours who are economically active A better standard of living for people in this part of the City – through better access to facilities More opportunities for people to increase their knowledge/skills and to increase their economic activity

Project outputs

Delivery of 1,300 new homes to support the economic regeneration of the city centre. Removal of poor and unpopular housing Much improved housing offer in an area very close to the City Centre and Station – new high quality housing with a mix of types, sizes and tenures of homes Much improved residential environment A range of facilities provided

Delivery timeframes

2020

Investment

Development Proposal Project value Funding status Start on site Multi-GP Practice £5,000,000 PCT Approved

66

Heath Town TBD Unconfirmed 2012

67

Spatial Priority: ABCD area, All Saints and Blakenhall : Priority B

Vision

The All Saints and Blakenhall (and ABCD) areas are made up of a number of different types of neighbourhood, as well as some currently derelict land, close to the southern edge of the City that is itself prioritised for redevelopment. It is a pivotal location, adjoining the City Centre and falling between key employment areas to the west (Warehouse Quarter) and to the east (the Bilston Corridor). This offers great potential to create an accessible and economically sustainable residential neighbourhood that is diverse in character.

The vision for the wider area is to create a number of highly desirable and diverse neighbourhoods, offering choice in house types, tenures and character as well as a choice in the character of the neighbourhood. This would provide residential environments that appeal to a wide range of people – both existing residents and residents who would be attracted to move to the area – and that are within walking distance of the City Centre and all the opportunities that this affords for work, education, leisure and ease of travel.

Some key historic buildings will be re-used and derelict land and buildings will be redeveloped to preserve and enhance the townscape character.

A vision common to all the neighbourhoods in this area is to create environments that are safe, attractive and sustainable.

Area Profile

The ABCD area has a population of 11,000 people. It has an above City average BME population at 52% (35.8% Indian, 7.9% Black Caribbean) and a growing older population2.

Many older ‘vulnerable’ low income people are living in non decent homes, which they are possibly unable to maintain and also perhaps under-occupying the property.

All Saints

All Saints lies close to and to the south east of Wolverhampton City Centre. It contains a mixture of older housing, commercial and industrial property and a number of vacant and derelict sites. There are several listed buildings in the area including the Royal Hospital and the Baker Boot Factory. It has good transport connections including Midland Metro.

There are around 550 homes in the All Saints neighbourhood. Most are privately owned two storey pre-1919 terraced homes with very small rear gardens or yards. There are very few modern homes with appropriate amenity space and generally very little choice in house type and tenure. This unsustainable mix of properties has resulted in a fragile housing market typified by low values, low demand, empty homes

2 Census 2001 statistics 68

and a poor quality private rented sector. Particular streets that have been identified by the local authority as being in low demand in 2005/6 and 2006/7 (according to a national definition) are All Saints Road (92), Maxwell Road (52), Vicarage Road (98) and Raby Street (53) – a total of 295 properties.

The All Saints area has a significant problem with empty properties – with over 10% of the residential properties being empty in relation to 4.91% Citywide. Many of these have been empty for a long time and are will require considerable works to bring them up to a standard for occupation.

A large proportion of households earn £15,000 or less per annum. In general BME groups are housed in poorer quality housing, mainly the private rented sector, living on very low incomes or dependent on a range of state benefits. This includes asylum seekers and people from the accession countries3. On priority sites like Vicarage Rd & Raby Street, there is a significant number of 2nd and 3rd generation extended Indian families who have lived in the streets for 20-30 years and who own their properties.

There are significant issues of anti-social behaviour, prostitution and drug dealing. These problems are exacerbated by the empty homes problem. They have led to the stigmatisation of the area and have inhibited its regeneration.

Blakenhall

The predominant property types in the Blakenhall area two and three bed-roomed terraced houses. The average property prices in for 2006/07 were £126,243 – the lowest average house price of all property types in Wolverhampton. The average house prices in Blakenhall are 4.6 times the average household income for the City. Many of the properties are unaffordable to the majority of residents in Wolverhampton, even though the area suffers low housing demand. Only 127 of the 3,566 house sales in Wolverhampton in 2006/07 were in Blakenhall. Local market intelligence suggests that All Saints is more affordable than Blakenhall.

Blakenhall also has a problem with empty homes in some areas. In April 2007, 267 private sector homes were empty within the ABCD area. This represents 6.7% of the total housing stock and the City average is 3%.

Current and Potential interventions

The All Saints and Blakenhall areas of the City have already received £53m of investment through the New Deal for Communities programme (called ABCD). I Investments to date have focused on reducing crime, boosting health, improving education, creating jobs and a ensuring better standard of housing and environment.

However significant work remains to be done in this area to improve the housing quality, the mix of building and housing types, tenure and uses, to improve environmental quality, the public realm, street safety and security and to better connect the area to the City Centre and the people living there to employment opportunities and community and leisure facilities.

Development of the area is being taken forward through a number of linked projects

3 Private sector stock condition survey 69

that need to be taken forward together to achieve the desired outcomes. Delivery will be managed by phasing the projects. The redevelopment of Gordon Street/Granville Street and the renewal of Vicarage Rd and Raby St are identified as being the first phase of a wider regeneration strategy for All Saints.

Former Royal Hospital and Bus Garage sites

The proposed redevelopment of this key site for high quality mixed uses in multi- functional buildings has the capacity to bring about significant positive change for good in All Saints in both environmental and economic terms.

The development proposals embrace urban village principles, but exclude large scale retail. They include: the refurbishment of the former Royal Hospital main building (a listed building) for a health centre & PCT offices fronting the ring road new flats and housing – 300 dwellings provision of local small scale shops and service accommodation apartments & employment space on the site of the former Bus Garage conversion of the former nurses home into flats hotel and conference facilities

Vicarage Road and Raby Street regeneration area

The development brief for the renewal and development of Vicarage Road and Raby Street prepared through a process of lengthy consultation with the local community, including through ASAN (All Saints Action Network). It will be used to procure high quality housing and an attractive public realm which reflects residents’ aspirations, including for:

Family orientated housing Improved pathways of housing choice High quality environment and improved traffic management High quality urban design Community involvement to ensure long term sustainability Improved public spaces and amenity areas; Sustainable local shops and services.

Development options include wholesale clearance or a mixture of refurbishment and/or redevelopment. The principle of retaining or introducing street frontages will be one of the key urban design principles, whichever option is eventually agreed.

Gordon Street / Granville Street

The development site at Gordon Street/Granville Street 60 high quality private homes at ‘urban’ density in a block design with new amenity open space. The affordable housing target is 20%. At 0.82 ha, this is a relatively small development, but being in the heart of the northern All Saints area adjacent to the City Centre it is one that is critical to the proposed redevelopment of Raby Street/Vicarage Road.

70

St Georges Ringway (Melbourne Street)

This site will be redeveloped in accordance with the approved Development Brief for mixed-use development, including commercial / business and housing uses.

Cable Street/Steelhouse Lane site

The development of this vacant & derelict 8 ha site is an important element in the wider renewal of the area. An approved site Development Brief identifies opportunities for a mixed use scheme for housing and employment together with new Canalside access, open space and a ‘marina’.

Land at Steelhouse Lane has been cleared and the ground is being prepared for development. The other half of the site adjoining the canal has recently been acquired by a site remediation & development company. A joint Masterplan is being prepared which will form the basis for planning applications which are expected to be submitted in the near future

Blakenhall Gardens A key development, the Blakenhall Gardens project is a mixed use regeneration scheme located in the heart of Blakenhall. The scheme will see the replacement of a 1960’s housing estate and shops with 102 high quality new homes and 10 retail units. The project will complement nearby primary school and Cross Street South developments.

ASHA house

The development will see the provision of move on accommodation for young people who have previously been made homeless.

Improvements to existing properties outside the main redevelopment sites It is proposed that the Blakenhall and All Saints areas will contribute to the City wide pilot scheme of retrofitting existing stock. A small pilot scheme retrofitting 13 homes has already been initiated in All Saints. Key partners and roles

WCC Land owner Land assembly Strategic project lead and co-ordinator CPO authority HCA Enabling role to bring forward public land for housing development Investment role Enabling and investment role in retrofit programme Tesco Land owner and development partner of Royal Hospital site. ABCD Multiple roles eg. Provider of Business, Jobs & Training, Community, Leisure & Culture, Crime & Community Safety, Educational Attainment, Housing & Environment PCT ASAN (All Provide direct input to the development briefs, masterplans and a Saints Action steer to the whole programme Network) 71

Wolverhampton Delivery of Decent Homes programme and potential retrofit partner Homes Ask of HCA:

Equity and gap funding investor for key regeneration schemes to enable financial viability. Enable the delivery of retrofit pilot programme through partnership working. Support WCC capacity to deliver by utilising HCA delivery tools and expertise. Outcomes

High quality residential and mixed use areas with different characters to support the economic growth and appeal of city centre. Transformation of currently poor and unpopular neighbourhoods Contribution to environmental sustainability through reduction in Co2 emissions from existing stock Help alleviate fuel poverty. Provision of more appropriate accommodation for demographic base.

Outputs

New housing in several locations that will meet local aspirations New mixed use local centre at Blakenhall. Good, mixed use of existing listed buildings Re-use of derelict land A new marina on the canal Removal of some poor quality housing Improvement of homes including addressing some Category 1 hazards Re-use of empty homes

Delivery timeframes up to 2020

Development Proposal Project value Funding status Start on site

Business, Jobs & Training £3,700,000 (ABCD) Approved

Community, Leisure & Culture £7,200,000 (ABCD) Approved

Crime & Community Safety £1,200,000 (ABCD) Approved

Educational Attainment £3,400,000 (ABCD) Approved

Growth Point Investment £750,000 (HCA Reserve list 2010/11 Blakenhall Gardens growth fund)

Housing & Environment £8,100,000 (ABCD) Approved

Spatial Priority – Whitmore Reans : Priority C

Vision

72

The vision for Whitmore Reans is one of stabilising, improving and diversifying an area that meets the residential needs of the existing local community. This will also present the area as a realistic choice for people moving to the City to seek work – particularly in the expanding economic districts of the City Centre an i54 site.

It is proposed to increase the proportion of families living in the area to balance up the population profile, by supporting the deconversion of houses in multiple occupation and developing new housing. The improvements will focus on the private rented sector and will include management and physical standards as well as reuse of empty properties. Older home owners will be assisted in maintaining their homes.

The community will be better served through the development of new BSF school development and LIFT health centre. Enhancements to the environment will help to improve its popularity.

There will be some mixed use development, but the current primary function of Whitmore Reans – as a residential area of an eclectic mix of people – will remain.

Area Profile:

Whitmore Reans is located in the St Peters ward in the area immediately to the north of the city centre. It is home to over 7000 people living in over 2,700 households. Dunstall, immediately to the north, is a much smaller area with a population of around 2,700 made up of 930 households.

The area is multi-tenure in nature and contains a variety of property types including high rise blocks and a significant amount of terraced housing. There is a high proportion of privately rented dwellings and a large number of homes in multiple occupation in a relatively poor state of repair. A number of housing management issues relating to the HMOs have been identified, including overcrowding and anti- social behaviour.

A significant proportion of properties within the area are let to students and Asylum Seekers (under private contracts with BASS providers). However there has been a continual decline in the numbers of students looking for accommodation in the area, and indications are that this is the same for the Asylum Seeker market, and therefore there has been an increase in numbers of empty properties.

The population is one of the city’s most ethically mixed, with half (51.6) of residents in Whitmore Reans (and 57.6% of Dunstall residents) of Black and Minority Ethnic origin. In addition, the area has Polish, Ukrainian and Italian communities. In the last couple of years, around 1,000 asylum seekers and refugees, mainly Afghans and Kurds have settled in the area.

Current and Potential interventions:

Whitmore Reans has been identified as an area that is in need of housing renewal and remodelling in the longer term.

Plans are at a relatively early stage. Pans are beginning to formulate in relation to the development of new housing and improving existing stock but there is not yet a Masterplan in place to deliver radical estate renewal. A targeted stock condition survey is planned for the area that will inform investment decisions. 73

Opportunities exist in Whitmore Reans (eg. Craddock Street) to align investment from a number of public agencies and utilise brownfield land and WDC land holdings to develop new housing in mixed use schemes, that will be served by a new school (BSF) and LIFT centre.

The following interventions are being considered (to be confirmed):

Removing empty properties and retrofitting them through a programme for social and private housing. De-conversion of HMOs to family accommodation for sale/rent Improve the management services of the private sector stock Equity release/maintenance advice/handy person scheme for elderly/disabled to deliver investment in stock Develop mechanisms to engage local private landlords to improve the quality of the stock and management A targeted investment programme to improve the local environment and build on the popularity of the area.

Key partners and roles:

Partner Role WCC Enabling development, land assembly and land supply HCA Potential funding of affordable housing. Land assembly and assisting with master planning. Enabling delivery of housing retrofit programme BSF Construction of schools LIFT New LIFT centre. WH Delivery of decent homes ASK of the HCA: To be confirmed through ongoing LIP reviews.

Outcomes:

More choice in housing Better residential environment Less anti-social behaviour due to happier people A place where people choose to live Reduced damage to the environment

Outputs

New homes New facilities – primary school, leisure facilities Improved urban environment. Removal of empty and void properties Improved physical standards of housing Reduced fuel poverty More energy efficient homes

Delivery timeframes – 10-15 years

74

Development Proposal Project value Funding status Start on site

Primary and Community £5,000,000 Not committed Care Centre (WCC/PCT/LIFT)

MHRC

Appendix G: Prioritising the spatial priorities

As part of the Single Conversation / Local Investment Plan process, Wolverhampton needs to explain how it intends to phase its spatial priority areas for regeneration and development. Not all of the priority sites will proceed simultaneously for a variety of reasons and in order to plan the work and investment requirements Wolverhampton needs to be clear about

how it will decide which sites to prioritise which sites it is prioritising and why it is prioritising those sites

Previous work done on prioritisation

(i) Neighbourhood assessment

In 2008, Broadway Malyan and Tribal undertook a study to create a programme of intervention for Neighbourhood Housing Regeneration in Wolverhampton. This identified priorities for housing regeneration by considering potential projects against several criteria which were

the concentrations of social housing socio-economic factors levels of deprivation physical condition of the homes environmental condition, opportunity for changing the function of the place readiness of the project

This pointed to four main areas for renewal and redevelopment:

Heath Town Bilston Blakenhall and All Saints Whitmore Reans

75

Heath Town was identified as the number one priority in the review and extensive work has been undertaken to provide a solution by the identification of a robust Outline Business Case since 2008. This identifies the components required from a Gap Analysis that need to be put in place prior to having a marketable product – to identify a Private Sector partner to create a Special Purpose Vehicle to deliver the solution.

(ii) Black Country Joint Core Strategy / Investment Plan

The Joint Core Strategy for the Black Country is the Black Country Investment Plan which outlines the known and aspirational investment within 4 strategic local centres and 16 regeneration corridors. Wolverhampton City Centre is identified as one of the strategic local centres. Four regeneration corridors are found within the boundaries of Wolverhampton, these are:

Corridor 1: Pendeford – Fordhouses – Contains the i54 technology park. Corridor 2: Stafford Road Corridor – High quality homes and knowledge based businesses. Corridor 3: South of Wolverhampton City – Model Village, includes All Saints and Blakenhall Regeneration area. Corridor 4: Bilston Corridor – contains Bilston urban Village and Ward Street regeneration areas.

Heath Town was not included in the BC Investment Plan at inception as there was no demonstrable solution to the problems faced within this priority area. However, it is apparent from the solutions considered since 2008 that the Zone of Influence from the holistic regeneration of the Heath Town area will directly impact on the adjacent City Centre as well as the Stafford Road Corridor and Bilston Corridor. WCC is now actively considering a strategic acquisition strategy to support the proposals.

Proposed criteria for deciding priority for the purposes of the LIP

Neither the Broadway Malyan assessment nor the Black Country assessment by themselves is adequate to decide the phasing of the development in the City’s spatial priorities. For the purposes of the LIP we are, therefore, reassessing all the priority areas against new criteria that are relevant to current issues.

These are divided into strategic considerations and operational considerations:

Strategic criteria

h) Significance of the site in delivering economic prosperity to the City, Black Country and wider region (i.e. improving quality of place to attract business leaders of today and in the future, reverse out migration, create jobs, raise income levels) i) Scale and impact – and therefore ability to make a difference and contribute to meeting housing need, taking into account its location / proximity to existing interventions j) Location and availability of sites for housing – informed by the SHLAA 76

k) Degree of influence over land holdings to enable regeneration to take place

Operational criteria

l) Potential for coordination – with (i) other large scale investment programmes eg. health, education, (ii) smaller scale revenue funding and (iii) partners’ commitment to investment and deliver to deliver Total Capital/Place and place-making approach – particularly taking into account other money already committed m) Readiness – progress already made towards starting on site n) Ability to deliver the development, once started on site

Wolverhampton has classified each of its planned developments as being priority A, B or C. In each case the rationale behind that classification is explained.

Bilston and Bilston Urban Village – Priority A

Criteria Explanation

(a) Significance in Considerable scope to transform a very deprived area delivering into a place with sustainable economic fortunes by economic improving quality of place, housing offer, transport and prosperity other infrastructure – to attract new, economically active people.

(b) Scale and impact Largest development/regeneration scheme planned for West Midlands. Whole-community approach to amenity and service provision. Significant recent investment in Bilston historic core (Town Hall and conservation) areas and Townscape Heritage Initiative has transformed the historic fabric and brought vacant floorspace into use. Planned complementary activity in The Orchard to use key buildings and improve the public realm.

(c) Location and Strategic position on metro-route / canal corridor between availability of sites Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Includes improved for housing pedestrian link with improved local retail/commercial centre (Bilston) and plans for better green infrastructure along canal corridor. Housing sites identified in SHLAA and Joint Core Strategy

(d) Degree of influence High degree of influence over Bilston Urban Village site – over land holdings WCC owns 70% and AWM owns 30% of site. (e) Potential for Housing, Education, Health, Leisure services all coordination coordinating funding and plans for interventions well. High levels of support for the town centre from the Traders’ Forum, poised to make use of opportunities presented by the planned investment. 77

(f) Readiness Development partners has been appointed (Places for People) (g) Ability to deliver The public services being provided are underway. The deliverability of the Urban Village is at risk following the proposed dissolution of the RDA.

City Centre / Canalside – priority A

Criteria Explanation

(a) Significance in Highly significant set of linked schemes will achieve delivering wholesale transformation of Wolverhampton City Centre, economic the impact of which will be felt throughout the Black prosperity Country and wider region (b) Scale and impact Very large in scale, affecting all central areas of City. The new Transport Interchange will change the perception of people coming to the City for work or leisure. (c) Location and Most new residential development planned for Canal-side availability of sites quarter has stalled due to current market conditions. Due for housing to the proximity to the Heath Town proposals it may be possible to make strategic acquisitions to support both projects

Some new housing is factored into City Centre scheme. (d) Degree of influence Minimal land ownership by WCC at present but potential over land holdings for strategic land acquisitions being considered. (e) Potential for The emerging City Centre Area Action Plan will ensure a coordination more co-ordinated approach to the provision of residential, retail and office space within the City Centre (f) Readiness Readiness will be subject to market conditions in the current economic climate and the finalisation of the AAP (g) Ability to deliver See above

Heath Town – priority A

Criteria Explanation

(a) Significance in Contribution to economic prosperity will be to provide delivering aspirational housing in a good quality residential economic environment close to the City Centre. It will also reduce prosperity the concentration of economically inactive people living close to each other. Poor quality housing removed. (b) Scale and impact The opportunity provides a scale of transformation not previously attempted in the Black Country. The successful implementation of the proposals will have a direct impact on the City Centre and BCS Corridors 2 & 4 by acting as a catalyst to provide confidence to developers to bring adjacent opportunities forward. (c) Location and The site is already being used for housing and is 78

availability of sites available for redevelopment with new housing and for housing amenities. (d) Degree of influence WCC owns the site and has full influence over the land over land holdings aspects of the development (e) Potential for High coordination (f) Readiness The Outline Business Case has identified the financial gap and land acquisition requirements to provide a marketable product. WCC are actively considering a strategic acquisition strategy to support the proposals (g) Ability to deliver Currently not in a position to deliver

Stafford Road – priority B

Criteria Explanation

(a) Significance in Highly significant. Links other important economic sites, delivering such as i54, Wolverhampton University, Wolverhampton economic Science Park and the City Centre. New jobs will be prosperity provided on new employment sites. The image that the area projects to visitors entering the City from the M54 motorway is important. (b) Scale and impact Large development – made up of a number of inter- related projects. Intended to deliver significant impact on the City (c) Location and Land for housing/amenities and employment already availability of sites earmarked. Large Goodyear site is strategically important for housing and building it out will add value to the area (d) Degree of influence Minimal direct influence as existing development sites over land holdings under Private Sector ownership, with the exception of i54 site predominantly under AWM ownership with a JV in place for WCC landholdings. The identified future redevelopment proposals in the BCIP will require site assembly and potential CPO (e) Potential for Moderate coordination (f) Readiness Existing development sites have necessary planning consents in place. (g) Ability to deliver Subject to improved market conditions or gap funding

All Saints / Blakenhall Gardens – priority B

Criteria Explanation

(a) Significance in Both neighbourhoods are within the WCC New Deal for delivering Communities area. Over the last 10 years they have economic received £53 million of public investment. The area will prosperity continue to be a priority for the Council (b) Scale and impact Redevelopment of Blakenhall Gardens. Initiation of 79

refurb, and demolitions and redevelopment projects in All Saints (c) Location and Royal Hospital Site availability of sites Cable Street for housing Granville St; Vicarage Rd/Raby St (d) Degree of influence WCC will have a degree of influence over Royal Hospital over land holdings through its planning powers The Council is leading on the redevelopment of Vicarage Rd/ Raby St (e) Potential for High for Vicarage Rd/Raby St coordination (f) Readiness As “e” (g) Ability to deliver As “e”

Whitmore Reans – priority C

Criteria Explanation

(a) Significance in Although Whitmore Reans has been identified in the LIP delivering as requiring investment and intervention, more work economic needs to be undertaken to better understand the scale of prosperity this work (b) Scale and impact As above (c) Location and Craddock St availability of sites Farndale School for housing (d) Degree of influence Currently limited although could be improved by Council over land holdings use of its own landholdings in the area to facilitate site assembly (e) Potential for coordination (f) Readiness Regeneration of this spatial area remains at an early stage of feasibility and appraisal work. It will require the City Council to use is land assembly powers to create a more coherent approach to land use in this neighbourhood (g) Ability to deliver Not known as feasibility is not yet complete

80