Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson joins fight against homes 'blighting' Great Barr Hall

Tom Watson said BCG Lakes was over-complicating the situation by compiling a staggering 2,500-page dossier which is set to put the heads of planning bosses in a spin.

The historic hall will be transformed into a hotel and conference centre under the plans, while 59 homes will be built in its grounds, to the anger of campaigners who say the development would ruin greenbelt land.

But the proposed development has turned into a long-running saga with the plans having first been lodged in October 2013. The application is currently on hold while Walsall Council examines the bid.

A frustrated Mr Watson, MP for West Bromwich East, said he had 'never seen anything like it'.

"The applicant has recently resubmitted 456 additional documents to Walsall Council. Working with local residents we estimate this consists of 2,500 sheets of information, making this one of the largest planning applications for years," he said.

"Assuming it takes an average of five minutes to study each sheet, it would take over 200 hours to read through all these documents. I've never seen anything like it in all my time as an MP."

Valerie Vaz, MP for Walsall South, is also against the application, has attempted to get the hall's listed status scrapped in the belief that if there is no longer any historic value in the building the developer's case would collapse.

She said: "The proposals remain unacceptable and are contrary to local and national planning policy. Valuable greenbelt and listed parkland will be lost if this application goes ahead."

However, builders who want to create the luxury housing estate in the grounds of the 18th century hall insist they would need the cash from the development to pay for the former mansion's restoration.

They say the building is so dilapidated after three decades of neglect that it would take millions of pounds to turn it into a hotel and conference centre. Great Barr Hall was built by the influential Scott family but has been empty since 1978, and is now propped up with scaffolding.

Campaigners have dubbed the homes millionaires' mansions and say they would be a 'blight on the landscape'.

Bob Winkle, chairman of the Beacon Action Group, said: "The proposal for a gated development of 19 millionaire lakeside homes, 38 large detached houses, two lodges and and a new enlarged copy of Great Barr Hall, situated across the listed parkland, will blight the landscape forever.

"If allowed, this application will seriously harm this sensitive area. Funds raised by the enabling development must benefit the community and this application fails to deliver this."