Funding to be discussed for huge new ‘village’ on former Sandwell golf course
Multi-million-pound funding for a major plan to build 190 homes, a new primary school and a park on the site of a former golf course in Oldbury will be discussed by cabinet this week.
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The huge plans for the former Brandhall golf course in Oldbury have already been backed by Sandwell Council, but councillors will be meeting to decide how the project will be funded.
The controversial work for the former golf course includes 190 new homes, a replacement Causeway Green Primary School and a new 67-acre public park.
Sandwell Council’s cabinet is expected to endorse plans to enter into a partnership with a developer to build the new homes.
The cost of borrowing the £800,000 for the rest of the work on the new estate, dubbed Brandhall Village, would equal £1.4m, the council said.
Demolishing the former golf course’s clubhouse and the new park will cost £187,000 with the park budget amounting to £613,000.
As much as £310,000 from the council’s reserves would also be used to help further the work.
The foundations for the first of the 190 proposed homes will not be laid for at least another 18 months, with Sandwell Council still needing to find a developer for the new estate.
The cabinet report, which will be discussed at a meeting in Oldbury on November 13, said that a decision on an ‘appropriate’ developer was not expected until next summer, and work on the homes would not begin until summer 2026 “at the earliest.”
The replacement primary school is not expected to open until early 2027.
The former golf clubhouse has remained empty since closing in 2020 but incurs ongoing security costs for the council.
The building has continued to deteriorate and was vandalised over the summer.
The clubhouse should be demolished as an “urgent priority” to cut the council’s maintenance bill and reduce the risk of further vandalism, the cabinet report advised.
Sandwell Council said the existing Causeway Green Primary School in Penncricket Lane was in “poor condition” and regularly flooded.
A ‘carbon neutral’ school would be built as a replacement in the new Brandhall Village.
The local authority originally looked to build 550 homes on the land but slashed its plans by two-thirds after a backlash from campaigners.
A planning application to build 190 homes on the land was approved nearly a year ago despite receiving more than 200 objections including those from the Brandhall Green Space Action Group, which was formed to fight off the threat of building on the green space.
