Telford council bidding to fund Wellington and Stirchley projects as well as Station Quarter
Telford’s planned Station Quarter is one of three projects the local authority is bidding to receive funding for, a senior executive has told councillors.
A £10 million bid was submitted by Telford & Wrekin Council to the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and, if successful, the money could be used to start the project which would redevelop the town’s disused HMRC site and Housing Plus building.
The authority's business, development and employment assistant director Katherine Kynaston said two other sites, in Wellington and Stirchley, were also covered by bids to the organisation.
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She said they will learn the fate of the Station Quarter bid at the Marches LEP’s next board meeting, on March 24. Further details of the other two projects are not yet in the public domain.
The Station Quarter project is a planned £200 million public-private partnership, potentially including a hotel, accommodation and leisure facilities on land between Telford’s railway station and the town centre.
Stalled sites
The £10 million, if awarded, would partly be used for planning and preparatory work on that project.
Ms Kynaston said: “We won’t know for a month or so whether our bid has been successful.”
Councillor Lee Carter told the business and finance scrutiny committee that Station Quarter was one of a “number of projects” within the bid, and development plans were “not just focussed on Telford town centre”.
“We’re looking across the borough, in the market towns, and at stalled sites,” he said.
Ms Kynaston added that two other sites within the bid are located in Stirchley and Wellington. Precise details of the plans for those have not been made public.
The Marches LEP is an organisation which aims to grow the economies of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. The leaders of the three local authorities and the chairmen of their areas’ respective business boards sit on its board.
