New homes plan for disused gas works site in Dudley
Ten new homes are set to be built on a former Dudley gas works site that has lain empty for years.
Dudley Council planners have granted approval for the proposal, put forward by Whitebox Architecture and Design, for the former Musk Lane Works on the corner of Brook Street and Musk Lane.
The scheme will see six three-bedroom houses, a pair of two-bedroom homes and a couple of two-bedroom apartments created on the site.
This proposal was originally submitted and approved back in 2016 but the development didn’t materialise and planning permission expired. It is now hoped the scheme can be completed.
Musk Lane Gas Works opened in 1864 and operated for more than a century before closing and later becoming an engineering works.
The application said: “The proposal would maximise the potential of a vacant site in a sustainable location.
“New dwellings have been positioned to provide an active frontage to Brook Street and Musk Lane, creating a high level of natural surveillance and enclosure to the public realm.
“The development would provide the same benefits as the expired planning approval, which include:
“New, high quality, residential development that makes better use of a vacant site and its sustainable location.
“A scheme which enhances the townscape visually, as well as introducing activity and vitality to an unused site and its wider context.
“New quality living accommodation that respects the setting, meets local needs and will be a welcome addition to the housing stock.
“Two and three‐bedroom units meeting local housing need which will serve to enliven and strengthen the existing community.
“Formation of new links with the existing footpaths and cycle network to improve and enhance pedestrian connectivity to local amenities, public open space and the surrounding area, promoting sustainable travel patterns.”
“Improved biodiversity through new landscaping and ecological management and enhanced natural surveillance to the public realm.”
