Cabinet approves first phase of town centre upgrades

Dudley Council has approved the first phase of a £10m plan to improve transport links into Stourbridge town centre.

The scheme, which was developed after extensive public consultation, will include upgrades to cycle routes and extensive revamps to gateway areas into the central area.

A meeting of the council’s cabinet on July 16 accepted a report including a measure to draw down £3 million from the West Midlands Combined Authority to pay for the first stage of the project.

Cllr Simon Phipps, Dudley cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said: “This report enables us to move to the next stage of a multi-million pound project to connectivity improvements. The proposed modifications have been designed through a collaborative approach with ward members in the local area who helped engage with the public.”

The report, signed by Nick McGurk,  Dudley group director of communities and growth, said: “There is a tight spend window for delivery of the project, as soon as confirmation of the grant award is known, there will be a need to mobilise quickly.”

The time line was a worry for the borough’s Labour group leader, Clr Shaukat Ali, who asked: “Have we got all the resources in place to deliver the scheme in a timely way?”

Cllr Phipps said: “I’m confident we will be able to deliver that within the time frame set out.”

Reform UK’s Cllr Rob Clinton was concerned about whether the council had funding to maintain the improvements, which include extensive planting, once the installation was complete.

Cllr Clinton said: “Often we get the budget for funding projects like this but we don’t have any funding set aside to maintain the infrastructure.”

Cllr Phipps told the meeting the council had recently allocated another £1m to green care and street scene work after previous budget cuts.

He said: “We are confident of being able to pull ourselves back up with all of the green care requirements within the borough and make up for the losses we have had over the last two years as we have cut budgets to protect social care services.

“We are looking to put the money back in.”