Bid for High Street improvement funds

A £7.85m bid for funding from Advantage West Midlands to improve Brierley Hill High Street is being put forward by Dudley Council.The bid is part of an overall package of measures to help regenerate Brierley Hill by linking the High Street, the Waterfront and Merry Hill to form a new town centre.

It is focused on the High Street area and, if successful it will:

• Enable new routes from the High Street to the new Health and Social Care Centre, College, car parks  and public transport stops making it easier and quicker to walk around the area;
• Provide new trees for the town centre;
• Widen pavements to allow for pull in areas for deliveries to shops and bus stops;
• Provide new street furniture: chairs, cycle racks, bins and improved signposting;
• Introduce new high quality paving for the High Street;
• Introduce a new ‘Southern Gateway’ for the town and address the problem with the leaning wall beneath the war memorial;
• Improve the Northern Entrance to the town with the provision of new public art.

A word of caution: this is a bid and has to be backed up by hard evidence to demonstrate that it meats the funding criteria of AWM.  A great deal of research has been undertaken in formulating the bid to make sure it is robust.  As with all bids there is a risk that all, or part of the scheme, may be rejected.

Timing: It is hoped that the full application will be written and submitted to AWM by the next meeting of the Town Centre Partnership on 5thNovember.