Advantage West Midlands and Wolverhampton City Council, the funding partners of WDC, announced today that due to “difficult decisions as regards the level of financial support they are able to give organisations” Wolverhampton Development Company will be wound up.

This comes in light of the current economic climate and government cuts, and means that funding for the company can no longer be guaranteed until March 2011.

The WDC board has decided that the only practical course of action is to work towards an orderly completion of the company’s activities.  It will take some weeks to establish the financial position, after which a firm date for the cessation of operation will be agreed by the board and the funding partners.

WDC is an urban regeneration company for the city of Wolverhampton and has helped to facilitate the delivery of the £37m Victoria Hall student village and planning consents for a range of commercial developments, including Treetops and Citygate.

Graham Mackenzie, chair of the company (centre of image) said: “Of course, I am disappointed that funding will no longer be available but, given the serious nature of the public sector deficit, I am not surprised at the decision.

“We believe that the work that the company has done, particularly the studies that have been completed recently, provides a real basis on which Wolverhampton City Council can build a more prosperous future for the city”.

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