Outline planning approval has been granted for City of Wolverhampton Council’s redevelopment of the city’s wholesale market site to facilitate the first phase of the Brewers Yard city centre living scheme.

Computer generated images show what the new Hickman Avenue market could look like.

The scheme is designed to accommodate the Council’s fleet services operation, which is due to relocate from its current Culwell Street depot to pave the way for hundreds of new homes as part of the Brewers Yard regeneration masterplan.

The relocation of fleet services and redevelopment of the Hickman Avenue site will look to create a further 110 construction jobs, enable the reduction of the Council’s carbon footprint by 215 tonnes of CO2 and support its programme to deliver a fleet of electric vehicles.

The modernisation plans have been developed in consultation with market traders and other existing users and will see the demolition of the existing buildings that are over 50 years old.

City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Environment and Climate Change, Councillor Steve Evans, said: “Achieving outline planning approval moves us a step closer to the regeneration of two strategically important city sites and will deliver huge benefits in terms of jobs, businesses and homes to help rejuvenate our city centre.

“The proposed relocation of our fleet services operation will make it more efficient and the redevelopment of the Hickman Avenue site will provide a major uplift to the city’s wholesale market.

“The Hickman Avenue redevelopment also forms part of the Council’s climate change commitment, enabling the transition of its combustion engine fleet to EV.”

An outline planning application by the Council is also being considered by planners for the Culwell Street depot site to demolish the existing buildings, remediate the brownfield land and make it ready for the development of new homes as part of the Brewers Yard scheme in the coming years.

Once all the land is unlocked for housing the completed scheme will see a mixture of houses and apartments, and new retail and commercial space.

The development will also sit just a few hundred metres from the city’s new transport Interchange, providing quick, direct access to Birmingham, London and Manchester.

Image captions: Computer generated images of the wholesale market site redevelopment at Hickman Avenue