Merry Hill Shopping Centre and local council leaders have stated their aim to better connect and integrate Merry Hill with the traditional town centre of Brierley Hill. The Dudley Canal was re-routed in the late-1990s, and between 2002-2005, housing has been developed around the complex (several apartment blocks opposite the cinema as well as apartments and houses overlooking Pedmore Road). A new line of the West Midlands Metro tram system was scheduled to reach the site in 2011, but has been delayed indefinitely. In July 2017, plans were revealed to expand the centre to include more restaurants and to open a new Odeon cinema
Westfield Helensvale Bay Shopping Village). The Gold Coast City Council argued that the planned Westfield Coomera (about up the M1) would cater for the catchment. Westfield Helensvale was built mainly because Coomera Town Centre, which is planned to be the true heart of the region, was hitting obstacles in the ways of planning. Part of the outcome of that debate was that part of the Westfield Centre was meant to have the appearance of an outdoor shopping street connecting the train station through to the older Helensvale shops nearby. However, since the older shops are located across a major road they have