A MAJOR multi-million-pound bid for government regeneration funding in Worcester has been backed by councillors.

Worcester City Council revealed £28 million plans to regenerate several parts of the city including the tired Shrub Hill area building a new medical centre on the banks of the River Severn, hundreds of homes and a new 'Building Block' training centre in Dines Green.

The bid was backed by the city council's policy and resources committee on Monday (January 25) and will now be submitted to the government.

Council leader Marc Bayliss said it was the first time in his 25 years of experience that Worcester had been successful in winning such large funding for major regeneration work.

“The core of this bid is very much about helping people who need help to get into good quality employment and good homes and to enjoy the benefits of transport to go along with those," he said during the meeting on Monday (January 25).

“We are delighted that the proposal helps in all of those areas and I certainly hope that the government receives it in that spirit.”

The former Worcester News building in Hylton Road will also be converted in to a facility to house nursing, physiotherapy and medical training - including an anatomy lab for between 50 and 100 students.

The site will also include a GP practice as well as on-site therapy and rehabilitation clinics.

A second ‘Building Block’ centre would also be built in Dines Green – building on the success of the existing facility in Warndon which hosts workshops developing DIY and building skills including bricklaying, plumbing, plastering, tiling and woodwork.

Cllr Simon Geraghty said the plan was a “bold and ambitious” bid to the government and hoped it would make Shrub Hill a real gateway for the city.

“We all know there is enormous potential in Shrub Hill,” he said.

“Not just about changing the ‘gateway’ to Worcester for so many people that we want to encourage to come here by rail, it’s not an inviting proposition at the moment, it doesn’t feel like a key gateway. We want to make sure this bid will do that, it would become a key gateway, and would leave a lasting impression for people using the train.”#

Plans include redeveloping the First Bus Depot site in Padmore Street near Worcester Shrub Hill station into 350 new homes and 2,000 square metres of commercial space.

The ageing Isaac Maddox House site in Shrub Hill Road would also see a new enterprise centre and up to 100 homes built.

A new walking and cycle route between Shrub Hill station, the planned regeneration area and the city centre would also be created.

Cllr Pat Agar said: “I think in the wake of pandemic, this ambitious piece of work gives us hope for the future in the city particularly things like the skills and enterprise project which will help people that have been thrown out of work by the pandemic and especially young people who have found it hard.”

She said the new medical centre would help train the next generation of professionals in the county and give the NHS “the boost it really needs.”

Worcester MP Robin Walker said: “I am really pleased that the cross party, cross community group that were brought together to work on the Towns Fund have delivered such a strong portfolio of projects and I believe some of these are of regional significance.

“Along with initiatives to improve our connectivity through investment in rail, I believe that the plans for Shrub Hill and for the Severn Campus have the potential to support economic benefits even wider than Worcester itself.

"It has been a pleasure to work with community leaders and councillors to deliver a plan which reflects the diversity and unique opportunities of Worcester today. Since then we have all felt the terrible impact of the Covid pandemic and it is sadly a fact that the areas of highest need have been the hardest hit.

“These interventions therefore could not be more timely or more keenly needed. I am glad that the projects in Worcester’s bid will help some of the parts of Worcester that need it most as well as strengthening our city centre and riverside."