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Wednesbury Levelling Up Partnership Board - Thursday, 12th December, 2024 3.30 pm

December 12, 2024 View on council website
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Summary

This meeting of the Wednesbury Levelling Up Partnership Board was an opportunity for the Board to be updated on progress made during the first year of the Board's existence. The Board was also scheduled to be briefed on the progress of the individual projects that make up the Levelling Up Partnership programme.

Friar Park Urban Village

The Board was scheduled to be told that the Friar Park Urban Village project is at the procurement stage, and that a draft development agreement has been prepared. The Board was to be told that a pre-application was submitted to the Environment Agency1 and a response received. The report pack says that revisions to the Joint Venture Agreement with the West Midlands Combined Authority2 were underway, and that the second stage of the development partner appointment was released.

The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. It is responsible for regulating major industry and waste, treatment of contaminated land, water quality and resources, fisheries, inland waterways, conservation and restoration, and navigation. The Board was scheduled to receive a summary of the public engagement that had taken place on the Friar Park Urban Village project. The report says that this engagement was to inform local residents about the remediation phase, which is intended to prepare the land at Friar Park for the construction of 630 new homes. The report pack for the meeting describes some of the nuances of this public engagement:

Many people whom we engaged with misinterpreted the message that this consultation was for land remediation only. We made it clear that we would hold a separate consultation in the future for the development of the urban village.

Millennium Centre

The Board was scheduled to be told that the Millennium Centre project was at the detailed design stage, and that the design of the project had been agreed and approved. It was also scheduled to be told that the value engineering3 was complete, and that the contractor for pre-construction works had been appointed.

Value engineering is a systematic method to improve the “value” of goods or products and services by using an examination of function. Value, as defined, is the ratio of function to cost. Value can therefore be increased by either improving the function or reducing the cost.

The report pack says that the purpose of public engagement on the Millennium Centre project was:

to inform residents about the changes to the building.

The report pack says that the information sharing events for the Millennium Centre took place in the same week as the meeting. It says that they were scheduled to include two drop-in sessions, one of which took place during the Millennium Centre's Christmas event.

Wednesbury Town Centre Building Improvements

The Board was scheduled to consider proposals for how a potential budget underspend from the Wednesbury Town Centre Building Improvements scheme could be used. The report pack explains the background to this:

£850K has been allocated to the building improvement scheme within the Public Realm project… This report sets out contingency arrangements to maximise the LUP grant in the event of delivery slippage… Efforts will be made to secure further capital swaps as the preferred approach; however, should this not be achievable, a selection of fallback projects are proposed below.

The report pack goes on to say that the preferred option for using any underspend from the Wednesbury Town Centre Building Improvements project would be Wednesbury Parks upgrades. It also mentions that the alternative option for spending this money would be priority repairs to Wednesbury Town Hall and Wednesbury Art Gallery and Museum.

The report pack includes a list of proposed upgrades to Wednesbury parks, in order of their priority:

  1. New fencing at Woden Road Allotment following the latest mining report.
  2. New footway resurfacing at the entrance to Goldicroft Park, plus new bins and benches.
  3. Safety surface and equipment refurbishment at Friar Park Play Area.
  4. Footpath resurfacing at Brunswick Park, plus new noticeboards, bins and benches.
  5. Footway resurfacing at Wednesbury War Memorial, re-gliding of the memorial, and flag pole repair.
  6. Play area and gym kit refurbishment or upgrade at Brunswick Park.

Levelling Up Partnership Programme Overview

The Board was scheduled to be updated on the progress of the Levelling Up Partnership (LUP) programme. The report pack explains the background to the programme:

Levelling Up Partnerships are targeted interventions designed to identify practical, tangible actions to support priority places to ‘level up’ and to help government develop a more holistic understanding of place. It is a programme within the previous Government’s overall Levelling Up agenda which includes the Towns Fund Programme (£67.5m investment in Sandwell), the Levelling Up Fund (£58m investment in Sandwell), and Long Term Plan for Towns (£20m for Smethwick).

The report pack lists all of the projects in the LUP programme:

  • Friar Park Urban Village
  • Wednesbury Community Safety Scheme
  • Wednesbury Town Centre Improvements (Masterplan and Public Realm)
  • Wednesbury Greenspaces Improvements
  • Friar Park Millennium Centre expansion

The report pack says that the achievements on the LUP programme since the last meeting of the Board included:

  • Liaison with high priority buildings in the Building Improvement Scheme.
  • Agreement on external support for the Building Improvement Scheme to address internal capacity issues.
  • Proposals to use an underspend from the community safety scheme were developed and agreed.
  • The options appraisal for the Hydes Road project was completed and agreed.
  • Engagement for Friar Park Urban Village was completed.
  • A pre-application response was received from the Environment Agency for Friar Park Urban Village.
  • Stage 2b of the Development Partner Procurement (Friar Park Urban Village) was released.
  • Preparations for Millennium Centre engagement drop-in events took place.
  • A design freeze for the Millennium Centre was reached, and value engineering concluded.

The report pack includes a summary of the delivery progress for each of the projects in the LUP programme. It also includes a detailed milestone report for each project in the programme.

The report pack says that there is one red risk4 on the programme level risk register:

Risk Title and Description

Delivery of Friar Park Urban Village Project – Time and Cost

Risk relates to delays in delivery of the project related to obtaining EA licenses and/or delays to developer partner procurement process and/or planning permissions and/or project cost increases

The report pack says that the risk is expected to reduce:

When EA permitting process concluded, delivery partner procured, and planning permission granted.

The report pack describes how the LUP programme contributes to each of the themes in Sandwell Council's Council Plan 2024-2027:

  • Growing Up in Sandwell: Opportunities for children and young people will be strengthened through an extended offer at the Friar Park Millennium Centre, a significant number of new homes, and improved quality and safety of public spaces and greenspaces in Wednesbury.
  • Living in Sandwell: The interventions within the LUP will strengthen the quality and safety of greenspaces and public spaces in Wednesbury. The interventions will enable a significant number of new quality homes. The interventions within the LUP will strengthen the deterrents for crime and ASB in Wednesbury.
  • Thriving Economy in Sandwell: The interventions within the LUP will enable a significant number of new homes to be delivered and will improve the quality of neighbourhoods through improvements and enhanced safety measures in green spaces and public spaces.
  • Healthy in Sandwell: The interventions within the LUP will strengthen the quality and safety of greenspaces and public spaces in Wednesbury, encouraging physical activity. Reporting to the WLUP Board includes updates on Public Health programme delivery in Wednesbury due to the interaction with the levelling up outcomes.
  • One Council One Team: The delivery of the LUP requires cross-Council working including input from key enabling services including finance, legal and procurement.

The report pack says that the Wednesbury Levelling Up Partnership Board5's terms of reference were updated in October 2024.

The report pack says that the programme level risk register contains nine red risks, four amber risks, and five green risks.

The report pack says that a number of project change requests were due to be discussed, four of which relate to slippage that has occured on four of the projects in the programme:

  • Millennium Centre – the project end date is due to change to November 2025.
  • Public Realm – the Building Improvement Scheme completion date is due to change to December 2025.
  • Friar Park Urban Village – the project end date is due to change to December 2027.
  • Greenspaces – the milestones and project end date for Hydes Road project are due to change, making the new project end date January 2026.

The report pack says that ten other changes that do not need to be endorsed by the Board were also due to be discussed.

Levelling Up Partnership Communication and Engagement Overview

The Board was scheduled to be updated on the communication and engagement activities that have taken place.

The report pack says that since the previous meeting, this has included:

  • A press release about the laying of new paving on Union Street.
  • Information sharing about the Friar Park Land Remediation.
  • Information sharing about the Millennium Centre Project.
  • A quarterly LUP update to Wednesbury Elected Members.
  • An Autumn update for the Sandwell Herald local newspaper.

The report pack goes on to describe the key headlines from the Friar Park Urban Village Remediation Project information sharing events:

  • 68 online responses to date and 39 in person comments from the drop in sessions.
  • Misinterpretation – Many people whom we engaged with misinterpreted the message that this consultation was for land remediation only. We made it clear that we would hold a separate consultation in the future for the development of the urban village.
  • Most people who misinterpreted the message ended up coming out of the drop in sessions with a positive view following an explanation of the proposals.
  • There were concerns surrounding how the introduction of over 600 new homes would require additional: schools, health provisions etc. We assured locals that this would be looked into as part of the future development of the remediated site.

The report pack says that the next meeting of the Communication and Engagement Working Group is due to be scheduled in early 2025, and that it will consider proposals for how to engage the public on the Hydes Road project.

WLUP Board Forward Plan and Learning and Development

The Board was scheduled to be told about the forward plan of its future meetings. The Board was also scheduled to receive an update on the learning and development activities that have been offered to its members.

The report pack says that future learning and development sessions are planned around active listening and effective questioning skills.


  1. The West Midlands Combined Authority is the combined authority for the West Midlands metropolitan county in England, known as the West Midlands. The authority covers the seven metropolitan boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. 

  2. A 'red risk' is a risk that is judged to have a high likelihood of occuring, and that would have a significant negative impact if it did occur. 

  3. Moderngov is the website where many local councils publish information about the work that they are doing, including the details of their meetings.