Controversial plans to turn 'historical' Wolverhampton house into care home

Developers McCarthy & Stone want to bulldoze the four-bedroom detached house at 5 Stockwell Road, Tettenhall, and convert them into apartments for the elderly.

An application for the development has not yet been submitted, with bosses at the firm currently locked in talks with planning officers at Wolverhampton City Council over the future of the site.

In a letter sent out to residents in the area, the Bournemouth-based firm said it had 'acquired an interest' in the property with the intention of developing a retirement home.

Last month the same firm was given the green light to build 22 retirement apartments less than half a mile away on the corner of High Street and College Road.

Darren Humphreys, director at McCarthy & Stone, said: "We're keen to develop another scheme which positively contributes to the local community both through the high-quality, attractive design and the increase in local housing choice the development would bring to the area."

But the move has prompted discontent amongst residents who consider a feature of the property's gardens to be a vital part of the village's heritage.

Mr and Mrs Edward Swindley, who once owned the land, donated Tettenhall's landmark clock tower on Upper Green in 1911.

A scale model of the tower adorns the house's garden which the firm says they will preserve should any development go ahead.

The family also left land to the village in the 1930s, including the Stockwell Farm duck pond which was converted into Tettenhall's paddling pool.

Tettenhall Regis Councillor Jonathan Yardley, who is on Wolverhampton City Council's planning committee, said: "Representatives from McCarthy & Stone are in talks with council officers regarding their plans for the site, although the two parties are still some way apart from reaching agreement.

"This is mainly down to tree conservation and environment issues.

"A number of residents have told me they are concerned about the possibility of more trees being lost in the village, as well as potential transport issues should development go ahead.

"But there is also the fact that the grounds of the house are of massive historical importance to Tettenhall.

"This would also be the first development in the village to directly impinge on the Green itself."

The firm is set to unveil its proposals at a residents' meeting at St Thomas of Canterbury RC Church in the coming weeks.

Tettenhall residents are set to vote in a referendum on July 17 to decide if they want to press ahead with the village's Our Place Our Plan initiative.

The plan includes preserving conservation areas as a key feature.