The leader of Dudley Council has said “regeneration, regeneration, regeneration” would be his priority for the next 12 months at the helm.

Councillor Patrick Harley released a video today outlining the main aims of his administration for 2023/24 after retaining a majority on Dudley Council at the recent local elections. The leader said investors and developers were “queuing up” to come and do business in Dudley.

He promised residents would see diggers start to hit the ground over the next 12 months and “change the skyline” in Dudley.

Councillor Harley also pledged to deliver a library service that would be “fit for the 21st century” and vowed to continue investing to update old and tired park and play equipment across the borough. He said senior councillors would be working with officers and local MPs “around the clock” to lobby Government for funding to improve town centres, and pledged continued investment in road maintenance and street cleansing. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said:

"In terms of priorities, it will be for us regeneration, regeneration, regeneration to coin a phrase from the past. We have lots of investors and developers that are now queuing up to come and do business with Dudley.

"Over the next 12 months residents will see these deals come to fruition. People will realise that all the hard work over the past couple of years in trying to attract those partnerships and that investment will come to fruition as we see the diggers hit the ground and start to change the skyline in Dudley.

"We also have a commitment to provide a library service fit for the 21st century. I have given a commitment to the residents of this borough that we will have a really good, worthwhile library service that suits the needs of our residents and our wider communities.

"We also have a commitment to continue to invest in our town centres. I will be lobbying, along with local MPs, the Government to ensure that we get our fair share of funding from the Levelling Up projects. We will work with officers and MPs around the clock to make sure that our town centres get the investment that they require.

"And finally, we have made a big play in the last few years about investing in parks and open spaces. We give that commitment over the next 12 months to continue to invest in our parks and play equipment. It is not right that some of that play equipment is over 20 to 30 years old.

"We have put in our budget that we will continue to invest in upgrading that equipment and making improvements, as well as investing more money in street cleansing, roads maintenance and also public realm."