City of Wolverhampton Council has started construction works on a new facility to house its fleet services workshops and taxi licensing operation at its Hickman Avenue site.
Demolition of old light industrial units has been completed - and development contractor McPhillips has been appointed to deliver the scheme, with council services expected to move in from the end of 2027.
It is designed to accommodate the council’s fleet services, which are due to relocate from their current Culwell Street depot in the city centre to pave the way for hundreds of new homes as part of the Brewers Yard regeneration masterplan.
The new Hickman Avenue site will also become home to the council’s taxi licensing operation as it moves from its base at the former Loxdale Primary School, which is earmarked for housing development.
The travel unit will also be included as part of the new development, bringing council fleet together in one location for greater efficiencies.
The relocation of fleet services and redevelopment works will lead to the creation of hundreds of construction jobs at the sites of the Culwell Street depot and former Loxdale Primary School, enable the reduction of the council’s carbon footprint and support its programme to deliver a fleet of electric vehicles. Renewable energy technologies will help support energising the electric fleet and reduce the council’s operation costs.
Councillor Qaiser Azeem, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for Resident Services, said: “It is great to be breaking ground on this critical scheme for the city. The new purpose-built depot will enable the relocation of important council services to a more suitable base.
“The Hickman Avenue redevelopment will ultimately ensure the sustainability of essential frontline services by consolidating, rationalising and optimising our operations. It will lead to reduced energy costs and asset maintenance and support the transition of the council’s combustion engine fleet to EV.
“As well as rationalising the council’s estate, this is also a critical step in bringing forward the regeneration of a strategically important brownfield site through the Brewers Yard scheme to deliver huge benefits in terms of jobs, investment and homes that will help rejuvenate our city centre.”
Andrew Dunham, McPhillips Director, said: “It’s great to be on site at Hickman Avenue and we’re proud City of Wolverhampton Council has chosen McPhillips to deliver this scheme.
“Once this facility is built, the council can move its services across and get on with building new homes on the land they leave behind. That means more homes, more construction work and more jobs for local businesses and local people. The building itself will also help the council run a cleaner and more sustainable fleet.
“This is the kind of public sector work we want to be doing. We look forward to working closely with the council and its staff to deliver a facility that serves Wolverhampton for many years to come.”
Following the transfer of services to Hickman Avenue, the existing buildings at the Culwell Street depot are set to be demolished and the brownfield site remediated, preparing the land for the future development of hundreds of new homes as part of the Brewers Yard scheme.
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, featured in the new Our Future City Centre Plan, will also sit just a few hundred metres from the city’s new transport Interchange, providing quick, direct access to Birmingham, London and Manchester.
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