Demolition of old light industrial units is expected to start in April, with construction works beginning in the summer.
The scheme is designed to accommodate the council’s fleet services operation, which is due to relocate from its current Culwell Street depot in the city centre to pave the way for hundreds of new homes as part of the Brewers Yard regeneration masterplan.
The new Hickman Avenue site will also become home to the council’s taxi licensing operation as it moves from its base at the former Loxdale Primary School, which is earmarked for housing development.
The travel unit, street lighting and cleaning stores will also be included as part of the new development, bringing council fleet together in one location for greater efficiencies.
Early enabling works at Hickman Avenue saw unused ancillary buildings demolished, ground investigations carried out and 2 mineshafts remediated.
The relocation of fleet services and redevelopment works will lead to the creation of hundreds of construction jobs at the sites of the Culwell Street depot and former Loxdale Primary School, enable the reduction of the council’s carbon footprint and support its programme to deliver a fleet of electric vehicles. Renewable energy from solar panels and battery storage will help support energising the electric fleet and reduce the council’s operation costs.
Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for Resident Services, said: “Planning approval now enables us to push forward with the development of a new purpose built depot that will enable the relocation of important council services to a more suitable base.
“The Hickman Avenue redevelopment will ultimately ensure the sustainability of essential frontline services by consolidating, rationalising and optimising our operations. It will lead to reduced energy costs and asset maintenance and support the transition of the council’s combustion engine fleet to EV.”
Councillor Chris Burden, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills, added: “As well as rationalising the council’s estate, this is also a critical step in bringing forward the regeneration of a strategically important brownfield site through the Brewers Yard scheme to deliver huge benefits in terms of jobs, investment and homes that will help rejuvenate our city centre.”
Separate planning approval is already in place to demolish existing buildings at the Culwell Street depot site and remediate the brownfield land to make it ready for the development of hundreds of new homes as part of the Brewers Yard scheme in the coming years.
Once all the land is unlocked for housing the completed scheme will see a mixture of houses and apartments, and new retail and commercial space.
The development will also sit just a few hundred metres from the city’s new transport Interchange, providing quick, direct access to Birmingham, London and Manchester.
