Drive-thru plans revealed on land in Wolverhampton earmarked for housing

New plans would see a drive-thru coffee shop and drive-thru car wash on the site of the Snowfoam Hand Car Wash off Parkfield Road.

The hand car wash and former car sales site next to Parkfield Medical Centre would also be demolished to make way for new electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

The site has long been earmarked for housing – with a plan for 24 flats approved as far as back as 2008 – but no homes have yet been built.

‘Temporary’ permission for the hand car wash has been granted several times in the last decade with efforts by the Wolverhampton Council to push for new housing falling flat.

The council has stepped in to block attempts by Arco Properties that would see the car wash stay put in lieu of much-needed housing only to be undone by government inspectors when the decisions were appealed.

‘Further investigations’ over the land and the ‘financial viability’ of a housing scheme would be needed before any new plans for homes would come to light, the developer Arco Properties told a government inspector.

A statement included with the application said: “The proposal is to demolish the existing structures on site and construct a drive-thru coffee shop, EV car charging and a drive-thru car wash.

“Following the pre-application advice regarding noise to the residents to the rear, we have pulled everything away from this boundary and have the development fronting Parkfield Road as much as we can.

“The coffee drive-thru is located to the west of the site beside the medical centre boundary while the EV and car wash site to the east of the site. The coffee drive-thru has very limited indoor seating as in 18 covers and it will predominantly used as a drive-thru with some outdoor seating.”

A plan to build 24 two-bed flats on the site, itself a former petrol station, was approved by the council in 2008 but the work was never carried out over concerns about old mineshafts in the area. The developer was granted extra time to carry out the work in 2013 but it still never came to fruition.

Meanwhile, planning permission was also granted for a hand car wash on the site in 2009 – originally only for three years – and again in 2014 alongside a move to sell cars and tyres and then again in 2018. This time the council rejected extending the ‘temporary’ permission but was overruled after an appeal.

A request to continue using the land as a hand car wash – again ‘temporarily’ for four years – was made in 2022 but rejected by Wolverhampton Council which wanted to see the site used for housing. Nevertheless, the council’s refusal was overturned by a government inspector when the plans went to appeal.

“The redevelopment and re-use of the site for residential development would improve the character and appearance and be of a positive benefit to the area,” the council’s planners concluded two years ago.

A year on from the council blocking the move, the decision was eventually overturned by inspectors.

“Whilst the council’s intentions and aspirations for the site are commendable, there appears to be little prospect of the site being redeveloped for such purposes in the near future,” the inspector said.

“Neither the use of the site as a hand car wash and car sales business or the existing structures would cause any significant harm to the character and appearance of the area, and the continued use of the site would be advantageous over the site being left vacant and abandoned.”