Plan for new homes for key workers
Plans to provide 121 homes for key workers such as police, firefighters and NHS staff have been put forward as part of the Midland Metropolitan super hospital.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust (SWBH) have submitted proposals to demolish parts of its general hospital and replace them with a six storey apartment block.
The £20 million scheme will replace ageing Victorian buildings which accommodate physiotherapy, diabetes and child development services.
In a planning application to Sandwell Council the trust says the departments will either remain at the General or be transferred to the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) presently being built in Smethwick.
In addition to a six-storey block with 109 apartments, the development will include 12 houses, a crèche, a convenience store and parking both on and off-site.
A spokesman for the trust said the feasibility plans are funded by Homes England and, if passed by council planners, work is not expected to commence until 2023.
She added it would provide "affordable, quality housing for key workers which is close to the workplace for many staff".
She said: “This could include people who work for the police service, fire service, ambulance, teachers and council workers.
“By the time MMUH opens in the summer of 2022, the trust will have made major service reconfigurations. All the services in the buildings that would be demolished will have transferred to MMUH or the main Sandwell General building.
“This development (if it goes ahead) is not expected to commence until 2023.”
Earlier this year, the National Audit Office said the MMUH is now expected to cost £998 million to complete after the project was delayed for two years following the collapse of the construction company Carillion in 2018.
