Park set to replace former Woolworths in Kidderminster

The buildings on Worcester Street would be demolished and replaced with a new public park

A former Woolworths building which has been empty for 15 years is set to be replaced by a new public park.

The store on Worcester Street, Kidderminster, will be demolished alongside the Megavalue, Poundland and Sigma Aquatics buildings.

The buildings would be replaced by a new, outdoor, green space, Wyre Forest District Council said.

Set to begin within weeks, the regeneration project is estimated to be completed by late summer 2024.

It is being funded by a portion of a £20.5m Future High Streets Fund Kidderminster has received from the government.

Detailed designs on the plans have now been published online, with a formal planning application for the new park expected later this year.

The former Woolworths store closed in 2008 after the company went into administration

Since the Woolworths store closed in 2008, the street has become known for its high number of empty retail units.

"The idea is that this gives something to Kidderminster's town centre that it doesn't currently have," said designer Ben Handley from Ares Landscape Architects.

"It'll create a much more welcoming town centre," he added.

Rather than building new retail units, the hope is that a green space can be more successful at attracting investment to a neglected part of the town centre.

A formal planning application for the new park is expected later this year

James Barker, from Kidderminster BID, said the park would be the "new future of the high street."

"We give it a massive thumbs up," he added, "I think having the open space on Worcester Street specifically is going to open up the area to holding more events".

Existing businesses on the street have also given their views on the new plans.

"Personally for the store we run I think it would be great" says Craig Thomas, who works at gaming shop Geek Retreat.

"We'd have more children in the area, giving kids more chance to interact with the shop."

But for Steve Rollings at printing shop Cartridge Warehouse, the plans for a park could be a missed opportunity.

"It would have been nice to see a bit more encouragement for a business to use the space," he explained.