Plans for old Duncan Edwards pub site welcomed
Council chiefs have welcomed plans for new homes on an old pub site – and they pledged to work with developers to increase the number of housing schemes in the years ahead.
Under new plans 12 homes are set to be built at the back of the site where the old Duncan Edwards pub used to stand, off Priory Road, Dudley.
Welcoming the plans, Dudley Council leader Patrick Harley said he wanted to see the site brought back into use as soon as possible.
And he said the council was looking to work in partnership with developers to ramp up the number of housing schemes across the borough.
He said: "The more we can build on old derelict sites like the old Duncan Edwards pub and put new houses on there the better.
"We are committed to bringing these brownfield sites back into use. It helps meet the housing need and stops the need to build on the green belt."
Mr Harley said he hoped the proposals, which would see homes built around the corner of Maple Road and Limes Road, would also lead to a new development at the front of the site where the pub used to stand.
Planning permission has previously been granted for a retail development and for a care home but nothing has ever got off the ground.
Mr Harley added: "As a council, if we have got parcels of land that belong to us we need to be working with developers to say, 'if you put six houses on there, we'll put three'.
"We are more than happy to sit down with developers and do that."
The scheme has been welcomed by Castle and Priory ward councillor Margaret Aston, who has campaigned for the site to be redeveloped for years.
"It's something we've been wanting to happen for a long, long time," she said.
"So many things have been put forward over the years and nothing has ever come of it. Hopefully this one will be different."
The pub was demolished in 2006 having closed down the previous year following a blaze.
