Rebuilding The Royal
Tesco
The Challenge
To support Tesco in its contentious planning application to develop The Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton.
After years of neglect, and lengthy High Court battles, there was an overriding sense of frustration, and a feeling that the abandoned site would never be regenerated.
The Idea
We recognised a need to harness local frustration to drive action, focusing our energies on a hardworking community and stakeholder engagement campaign highlighting the positives of the schemes.
This saw us address sensitive issues around conservation – briefing councillors and cabinet leaders, the local MP, community leaders and action groups direct, as well as communicating with the wider community via the media, door-to-door leaflet drops, and through a public consultation event.
The Results
- After the public consultation exercise, 98% of the community respondents were shown to be in favour of the scheme
- Our work with local community groups (All Saints Action Network and the SEWA centre) also proved vital in influencing the Planning Committee’s final decision – with both groups presenting on behalf of Tesco in the Planning Committee meeting
- Despite the history of sensitivity around the site, we ultimately secured planning approval for this challenging, and extremely significant, retail scheme