Lichfield District Council could step in to provide the funding to allow the Friarsgate scheme to go ahead, LichfieldLive can reveal.
The long-awaited redevelopment of the city centre has struggled to get off the ground, despite sections of the site being cleared and plans to begin work in 2017.
The local authority’s leader, Cllr Mike Wilcox, has now confirmed discussions are taking place to ensure the Friarsgate project does not fall by the wayside.
“The majority of the major Friarsgate milestones are now in place, and we are working with U+I to assemble the final piece of the jigsaw, which is the funding to deliver the scheme,” he said.
“As part of this, councillors were informally briefed on the opportunity for the council to fund the scheme at a meeting on May 22.”
It had previously been anticipated that private backing would be used to make the proposals – which include retail units, a cinema and housing – a reality.
But Cllr Wilcox insisted the decision to potentially use public funding was not an unusual one.
“This is an approach that has been taken by a number of other councils across the country to successfully kick start major developments,” he said.
“No decisions have been made and the opportunity is being explored in greater depth as part of a programme of decision making. The next discussion will take place at a joint meeting of Economic Growth, Environment and Development (Overview & Scrutiny) Committee later this month.”
