University of Wolverhampton wins Walsall campus car park battle
Controversial plans for a new university car park and road junction off a busy road in Walsall have been approved despite more than 500 objections.
The University of Wolverhampton has been granted permission for the permanent 248-space car park and new access point off the Broadway at the Walsall campus.
The new access road will replace the Magdalene Road entrance to the campus and it is now hoped work will be done by the end of the year.
It will come as welcome news to residents of the Broadway Park Estate who regularly complained over commuting vehicles travelling through.
But it will be a bitter blow to Palfrey residents living opposite to the proposed plans who had put forward alternate plans which were rejected.
After the university's plans became public knowledge, a petition was started which reached over 450 signatures.
Another 50 letters of objection were submitted by concerned residents to the council on top of the petition.
They claimed the junction would create chaos on the road during peak and off-peak times.
But James Allen, the head of communications for Wolverhampton University, said: "The new road from the Broadway will enhance access to the university's Walsall Campus for students and the community, and we also have many school, club and social group users of our sports and performing arts facilities – this new access road and additional permanent car parking facilities will be of benefit to the wider community."
The 248-space permanent car park will replace the temporary overspill car park but this will mean the loss of a football pitch at the site.
However the university bas pledged to invest £120,000 for improved sports facilities to compensate for the loss. The all-weather pitch will be upgraded to 3G.
The approval of the plans also means that the existing trees along the Broadway frontage will be lost, but again the university has pledged to replacement tree planting in mitigation.
Over the academic year, some 6,500 to 7,000 both full and part-time students and approximately 500 staff use the Walsall campus
The campus became part of the university in 1992 and has been undergoing various refurbishment projects since 2002.
Delta Planning submitted the plans on behalf of Wolverhampton University in January last year and Walsall Council approved the application last month.
