Levelling up improvements for town centre delayed

Sandwell Council was awarded more than £20m in government levelling up money for Wednesbury

A number of projects to make improvements to Wednesbury town centre are facing significant delays – with some not expected to be ready until at least 2028.

Among them are plans for a new 630-home estate in Friar Park, which was due to hand over to developers in September 2026, but has been pushed back to December 2027.

Sandwell Council was awarded more than £20m in government levelling up money for Wednesbury in September last year.

Sandwell Council said its "complex" projects would be pushed back after the government's deadline.

Sandwell Council said the expected the 630 homes to be built by 2031 based on the land being ready in June 2024.

Planned upgrades to Friar Park's Millenium Centre has also been pushed back from June 2025 to November.

Improvements to some of the town's green spaces would not be done until January 2026 rather than next summer, said the council.

While most of the green space improvements have been completed, centrepiece work to build a new pavilion at the Hydes Road playing field has been pushed back by nine months.

Work to include more trees, new paving, lighting, drains, benches and bins for the town centre will not be completed for another 12 months, said the council.

Improvements to empty land in Addison Street, High Bullen car park, the former Spires Health Centre in Victoria Street and the old outdoor market in Union Street have also been delayed.

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