The Canal & River Trust is paving the way for the regeneration of part of City of Wolverhampton's canalside by demolishing buildings on the former crane foundry site at Horseley Fields.

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The charity, which cares for 2,000 miles of historic waterways in England and Wales, has started work to demolish 2 derelict buildings on the site.

Once the demolition works are completed the Trust hopes to attract a tenant to lease the land for a short period whilst ideas are developed for the regeneration of this area.

The Trust, working with the City of Wolverhampton Council and Homes England, has appointed Arcadis, a global design consultancy, to develop a masterplan for the wider Canalside Quarter South which includes land owned by the Council and the Trust.

The partners hope to work together to create a vibrant canalside community offering high quality opportunities to live work and play, enriching lives and embracing existing heritage assets, including the canal.

Cheryl Blount Powell, from the Canal & River Trust, said; "It's great to see the contractors going in, this really is the start of a bright new future for this stretch of canalside. Along with our partners at City of Wolverhampton Council we want to see this area transformed from what is currently a sorry sight into a bustling canalside community.

"We hope this will become an attractive and welcoming place in which people can live happily and healthily and which draws others into this particular part of Wolverhampton."

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: "This is another positive step towards the regeneration of canalside, which will also soon benefit from the building of the new railway station.

"The delivery of a mixed use development in this key growth area will be invaluable in contributing to our masterplan for the redevelopment of the city.

"We fully support the Canal & River Trust in its ambition to drive the regeneration of canalside locations such as this and look forward to working with the Trust on the plans for the new site."

The works on the Crane Foundry site are due to be completed in March and the towpath is due to be closed from 5 February for one week.

To find out more about the work of the Canal & River Trust, and how you can volunteer and donate, go to Type=links;Linkid=6952;Title=Canal & River Trust;Target=_blank;.

  • released: Thursday 1 February, 2018