Steel framework next for £8m market revamp

Council leader Stephen Simkins and Speller Metcalfe project manager Carl Bettam were pictured with steel objects on site that will feature at the new market

Work is starting this week to put up the steel framework on the new multi-million-pound Bilston market.

The site will have better access, a new canopy, upgraded toilets, enhanced stalls and improved public spaces and is on track to be finished in June next year, City of Wolverhampton Council has said.

It added more than £8m was being invested, after the authority decided to provide a £2.5m increase to the budget after finding "difficult conditions under the ground".

"Minor tweaks" to elements of the final design have also this week received planning approval, "with a commitment to traders they are getting the full scheme as promised", the council said.

It added work beginning this week came after contractor Speller Metcalfe had completed the necessary groundworks.

The authority's leader, Stephen Simkins, stated: "This is a significant moment in the scheme, as we begin to see the new market structure coming out of the ground."

Cabinet member for city development, jobs and skills Chris Burden said the redevelopment was "just the first phase of our multi-million-pound investment in Bilston".

There was "lots more to come that will complement and enhance the market works", he added, which would drive footfall to the town centre.

Burden said this included Black Country Route public realm improvements, the £20m Pride in Place programme, which the council would work with residents on "to spend on projects around the town", and building a new health and wellbeing facility.