Improvements to West Bromwich town centre

Improvements have been made to stretches of the High Street outside West Bromwich Town Hall, the Memorial Gardens and West Bromwich Library.

As well as new paving being laid, trees have been planted, bus shelters upgraded and new bins installed to boost the appearance of the town centre.

The work is part of the ongoing 'public realm' project. The £8.2 million scheme will also create a new public square and boost links around Sandwell College, Providence Place, the Eastern Gateway and Dartmouth Park.

It will also see improvements made to the pedestrianised stretch of High Street including new paving, lighting, seating areas and tree planting.

As part of the work, the central canopy and kiosk have been removed to make way for a public event area, to help boost footfall in the town centre. The newly created space was recently used for the first time to host the Sandwell Arts Festival Circus which was a great success.

The 'Cross in Hand' bronze sculpture at the entrance to Duchess Parade has also been removed as part of the work. It will later be repositioned near the Wesley Church in High Street on a new granite plinth. Removal of the sculpture will help open up Duchess Parade and create more space for shoppers.

Councillor Derek Rowley, Sandwell's cabinet member for jobs and skills, said the work carried out so far has already had a positive impact.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure all parts of West Bromwich town centre benefit from the regeneration programme. Not only does this work look good, it's of a very high standard and will be long lasting."

Sandwell Council secured funding of £4.1 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in April 2011 to match contributions made by itself and partners to the £8.2 million project. It is anticipated all work will be completed by 2015.

For more information on the improved public spaces project, visit our West Bromwich regeneration webpages.