Local Democracy Reporting Service
Christian Barnett

Parts of Worcester are going to be regenerated with nearly £20m from the government.

Image source, Google

The money has been awarded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The plans include redeveloping the First Bus depot site, in Padmore Street, into 350 new homes along with commercial space.

A new enterprise centre and up to 100 homes will be built on the Isaac Maddox House site on Shrub Hill Road and new walking and cycling routes are proposed.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans to build 1,000 homes on the site of the former Ironbridge Power Station are set to be approved.

The redevelopment of the 340-acre site at Buildwas will also include a retirement village, primary school, shops, rail link, business sites and sports, leisure and healthcare facilities, in what will effectively become a new town.

The plans will go before Shropshire Council’s southern planning committee next week and officers say outline planning permission should be granted.

It comes after Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning committee approved the cross-boundary application last month.

If approval is granted, the developer Harworth Group will pay a £16.75m contribution towards local infrastructure, ring-fenced for work directly associated with the development, including £5.1m for a new on-site primary school and £4.4m towards expanding William Brookes School, in Much Wenlock.

The first tiles have been laid at the £73m aquatics centre for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

To finish the 50m competition pool, diving pool and other facilities, 190,000 tiles will have to be laid, organisers said.

They added the centre in Sandwell was on schedule and on budget to be completed in spring 2022.

The Birmingham Games will take place from 28 July to 8 August.

Image source, Birmingham 2022

Birmingham Live

Here are some of the stories on the Birmingham Live website today:

• Mum given 'weeks to live' after being diagnosed with brain tumour, external

• West Midlands Cycle Hire bikes 'now being abandoned like e-scooters' as offenders told to expect fines, external
• Two teens arrested after family racially abused in Wolverhampton park, external

Firefighters are at the scene of a severe house fire in Dudley.

West Midlands Fire Service said everyone in the house in Anderson Road, Tipton Green, had been accounted for and were being checked by paramedics.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

The service added that the road would be closed while crews continue their work.

The first female-majority council in the UK has become the basis for a new show.

Image source, Getty Images

Frankie Meredith's play is based on her great aunt's role on a Warwickshire parish council that helped "transform" the village of Bishops Itchington.

Despite their work, the local newspaper reports village men plotted to overthrow the "petticoat rule".

Petticoat Council can be seen at Warwick Arts Centre, 15-17 June as part of Coventry's City of Culture.

BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants to sign Aston Villa and England midfielder Jack Grealish, 25, this summer. (ESPN), external

Everton have interviewed former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, 47, about succeeding Carlo Ancelotti as manager after the Italian left to re-join Real Madrid. (Football Insider), external

West Ham and Aston Villa are keen to sign Burnley striker Chris Wood, while Everton are monitoring the 29-year-old New Zealand international while they await the appointment of a new manager. (Mirror), external

Aston Villa are favourites to sign 16-year-old central defender Josh Feeney from Fleetwood in the summer, but they face competition from Manchester United for the England Under-16 captain. (Mail), external

Paul Fuller was an "incredibly well-respected man", his deputy says.

Police are investigating a fight that broke out involving four men at a drive-through takeaway in Nuneaton.

Image source, Google

The altercation happened on the Bermuda Estate following an argument at 20:10 BST on Monday, said Warwickshire Police.

It's believed the fight was witnessed by customers at the McDonald's restaurant.

Police are asking for anyone with information to come forward.

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC Radio WM

It's been a week since Birmingham's Clean Air Zone was introduced with a last-minute announcement from the city council that it was a "soft launch" and payments would not be taken for the first fortnight.

At the time, the authority said it was to give drivers "time to adjust" and allow people to apply for exemptions.

Steve Arnold, the council's head of CAZ, said they had already processed about 500 applications in that time.

He also challenged allegations from Birmingham's Conservative opposition that the real reason for the delay in seeking payments was because the council failed to sort a procurement contract out in time.

Drivers of high-polluting vehicles will be charged to enter the zone from midnight on 14 June and Mr Arnold said "everything was ready" and the council had made test payments.

However, drivers of non-compliant vehicles will not be able to pay in advance for the first week and instead must pay within six days after their journey.

"We always wanted to ease people into this," he said. "We always knew this transition was a difficult one."

Residents in Lichfield are being urged to get rid of freezers and fridges properly after dozens were dumped in the past year.

Image source, Lichfield District Council

Thirty-six were fly-tipped in the city and surrounding area in the 12 months up to April.

The district council described it as a "worrying trend" with many of them stripped of motors and compressors for the metal.

The local authority said people should also avoid leaving fridges and freezers on streets in the hope passing scrap metal dealers take them.

Ish Sodhi replaces Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane as overseas spinner in Worcestershire's T20 Blast squad.

A 17-year-old who was targeted last month says racism is too often ignored by victims.

A grade-II listed castle has been vandalised, police said.

Stafford Castle was reportedly damaged over the weekend and Staffordshire Police said, external four teenagers had been seen running from the area.

The stone ruins of Stafford Castle date back to the 14th Century, but the site on which it stands was once a fully functioning motte and bailey fort, built towards the end of the 11th Century.

Twenty-six English towns and cities will received a grant from a £610m government fund to help them recover economically from the impact of coronavirus.

Image source, Getty Images

In the West Midlands:

• Hereford will receive £22.4m
• Newcastle-under-Lyme was awarded £23.6m
• Redditch will receive £15.6m
• Telford will get £22.3m
• Walsall will receive £21.3m
• Worcester is due £19.6m

It's a beautiful start to the day with a lot of sunshine around this morning, staying largely dry and clear through to the afternoon.

Temperatures are on the rise, with highs of up to 23C (73F).

Image source, Tippytoes/ BBC Weather Watchers

Welcome to the start of our live service for Tuesday.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates for the West Midlands.

You can let us know about stories in your area via email, Twitter, external and Facebook, external.

Six women sat on Bishops Itchington parish council post-war and faced a male plot to overthrow them.

Two teenagers appear in court charged with murdering Dea-John Reid in Birmingham.

Two people have been arrested after a disorder at a property in Birmingham.

A 27-year-old man suffered a cut to his ear and neck and a 25-year-old had cuts to his chest and ear after the incident on Stirling Road in Edgbaston at about 05:00am on Monday, West Midlands Police said.

Image source, Google

Their injuries are not life-threatening or life-changing, the force said.

Two people were arrested and taken to hospital, also with injuries that were not life-threatening or life-changing, it added.

They have since been discharged and remain in police custody.