West Bromwich shop owner asks for permission to demolish wall he has already knocked down
The owner of a former shop and post office has applied for permission to demolish a wall that has already been knocked down.
The applicant Simon Bagri from UK Wide Real Estate has asked for ‘retrospective’ permission from Sandwell Council for the work already carried out to the former Hateley Heath Post Office and McColl’s convenience store in Jowetts Lane in West Bromwich.
The work already carried out includes the replacement of a boundary wall in Lynton Avenue, the demolition of a rear external wall and a single-storey rear extension.
The raising of the roof by 1.4 metres to 3.8 metres is included in the retrospective application but has not been carried out according to Sandwell Council.
The demolition job started in March last year and attracted the attention of enforcement officers at Sandwell Council following a complaint.
The council stepped in and told Mr Bagri that the extent of the work first required planning permission, which put a halt to the work and left the makeover half-finished.
Before the work began, the ‘patchwork’ building, which was a former shop and post office and two-bed flat, was made up of various materials including metal gates, corrugated iron, bricks, breeze blocks and barbed wire as well as extensions of differing heights with contrasting roofs.
The boundary wall was also described as as “unsafe” in the application.
Four objections were raised against the work – with parking and traffic concerns, noise and the fear of a loss of privacy listed as the main grounds for opposition.
Council planners said the highways department had no concerns over parking or road safety and would not cause any problems for the existing access to the site.
“Parking provision would not increase as a consequence of the storage area as the retail floor area is not increasing,” planners said.
The council said raising the existing roof and creating one single roof would remove the ‘patchwork’ roof and improve the appearance of the street.
UK Wide Real Estate is headed by Harjinder Singh Bagri, the former 12-year licensee of Seven Bar in Wednesbury which was shut down in 2022 by Sandwell Council over its violent history which included a stabbing, an attempted murder and several violent assaults.
A decision is set to be made by Sandwell Council’s planning committee at a meeting in Oldbury on January 10.
