Old school to be bulldozed for homes

The application to Dudley Council’s Development Committee was passed after a similar proposal by Permission Homes was rejected in January this year.

That plan for 59 dwellings led to more than 180 objections by residents, including complaints of over-development, concerns over parking and increased traffic and the impact on wildlife on adjacent playing fields.

The existing buildings have been vandalised since the school was closed in 2011 after Stourbridge College moved its art and design courses to a new campus in Brierley Hill.

Objecting to the proposal, Catherine Eccles said residents still had concerns of the impact on services such as schools, saying the local primary was highly oversubscribed.

A spokesman for Permission Homes told the committee the company had consulted with local residents and the new application was a vast improvement on previous plans which include 13 affordable homes.

The company had also agreed an £88,000 contribution to education provision in the area as part of a £239,000 section 106 payment to the council.

He added an appeal against the rejection of the original proposal would be withdrawn if the new proposal was passed.

Council officers said they had worked with the company to address fears over parking and all the proposed houses had sufficient spaces for vehicles.

Councillor Asif Ahmed noting the number of objections to the development had fallen from 184 in January to 40, said: “We are getting a very different vibe today from then (January).

“This is a perfect example of a developer working closely with local residents, given its scale this was a very big issue with the initial application. It could be used to set an example as to how we hope that development of this nature and scale could work in the future.”

“You’re not going to get an application that will pleases everybody but is it an application that is acceptable compared to the previous one? I would say yes.”