PLANS to rip out landscaping to create much-needed parking spaces at the multi-million Wyre Forest Leisure Centre are set to be discussed by council bosses next week.

In January, the Shuttle reported how members of the facility, in Silverwoods Way, had been left scrambling for one of the coveted 171 spaces and were forced to abandon their cars on pavements and grass verges.

Wyre Forest District Council cabinet bosses are set to discuss the plans to remove some of the landscaping at the site, to expand the car park and create an additional 31 spaces to cope with the popularity of the centre, when they meet on Tuesday, March 14.

The work to extend the car park would require planning permission and the cabinet looks set to agree for an application to be submitted to the planning committee. The plans would be submitted by Places for People, who run the centre on the council's behalf.

Councillor Marcus Hart, leader of Wyre Forest District Council, said: "The cabinet meeting is the first stage in the formal process we need to go through to progress our plans to create more parking spaces at the leisure centre.

"We are working as quickly as possible to make these changes and if the cabinet agrees to the recommendations, the planning application would be considered at the next available meeting of the planning committee."

Cllr Hart added: "We are grateful to everyone for working with us to help resolve the parking issues but there are still busy times.

"We hope these plans will help alleviate the problems."

Wyre Forest Leisure Centre has proved to be exceptionally popular - with on average 35,000 users visiting the facility each month. This increased to 47,000 in January - 4,000 more than the combined numbers for the Wyre Forest Glades Leisure Centre and Stourport Sports Centre in previous years.

If the planning application is submitted and approved, then the works are expected to be completed in May.

The cabinet is also considering a recommendation to share the cost of the works equally between the council and Places for People Leisure Ltd. The council's contribution would be funded from a contingency reserve for this project and there would not be any additional impact for council tax payers.

In January, leisure centre member Michael De Groot, told the Shuttle: "There is quite a bit of frustration among members. We are all paying premium membership for facilities.

"People are getting very frustrated and agitated, causing people to chase for spaces in the car park, trying to beat to the next available - it's quite dangerous as there isn't much room there anyway."

The cabinet meeting on March 14, starts at 6pm and will be webcast live on wyreforestdc.gov.uk/webcast.