Smethwick pub will end for housing
An eyesore Black Country pub is set to be demolished to make way for new housing - regeneration chiefs have agreed.
Approval was given for The Hussar in Smethwick to be knocked down at a private meeting.
Sandwell Council's regeneration and transport committee agreed that the authority can now acquire the freehold of the pub, in Windmill Lane, which has been lying empty for several months now.
The building had already been earmarked for residential redevelopment, as part of the Smethwick Area Action Plan.
The agreement is hailed as a "significant step" forward for the redevelopment of the area.
The empty property is next to vacant council-owned land and demolition of the property will enable an improved residential scheme to be developed.
The costs of acquiring, managing and demolishing the property will be met in full by housing and regeneration group Urban Living.
Sandwell's regeneration chief, Councillor Bob Badham, said: "In terms of securing that land in an area where we are going to develop housing we felt it was good to remove that pub and acquire the land.
"A masterplan is being formulated for the area. At the time of this recession it gives us a chance to acquire all the sites in that area, which we have done, and now with this pub we can do a comprehensive brief for that area."
The Smethwick Area Action Plan could see hundreds of new homes built.
The plan will allocate sites for specific uses providing a range of housing, as well as safeguarding land for employment.
One development in Smethwick is the £380m super hospital, on the former GKN factory site off Grove Lane.
