Seven family homes planned for Great Barr park site
Seven family homes will be built near Red House Park in Great Barr under fresh plans unveiled today by developers hoping to transform the land.
Staffordshire-based Cameron Homes Limited has applied to Sandwell Council to build the four-bedroom detached houses. The properties are earmarked for land opposite the park, along with at least 21 parking spaces. A homes scheme for seven houses or six bungalows was discussed for the site in Hill Lane two years ago but no plans materialised until a report was submitted recently.
The report to the planning department says the development aimed to create an attractive living environment on currently underused land.
It said: "The development will provide seven dwellings and will offer a variety of four-bedroom houses suitable for a range of needs which will add to a small community of residents which will help generate a vibrant and active family development."
The homes will have drives measuring at least 18ft as well as garages in some cases.
The report said: "Buildings are arranged to interact with one another in the street scene. The range of house types will be varied enough to provide a character yet at the same time complement one another when viewed as a composition."
Meanwhile, the fate of the Grade II-listed Red House mansion, inside the park, remains unclear.
There were plans to turn the building, which has been repeatedly targeted by vandals, into 11 luxury apartments but the scheme never came to fruition, said to be because of financial constraints.
The Friends of Red House Park had called for the building to be turned into a community centre and collected a petition with 2,964 signatures backing the idea but say they could not find anyone willing to help them make it happen.
Chairman Bill Gunn, of Waddington Avenue, said he had no problem with new homes in Hill Lane as long as the mansion remained intact.
"As I understand it, the original idea was to sell the house and the land opposite together. But the council must have separated them," he added.
"I think residents round there thought the homes in Hill Lane were going to be bungalows.
"That land is not part of the park. It is not being used for anything. I have not got any problems with them building on it."
