Car wash told to close at landmark former Walsall pub site

The former Three Crowns pub on Sutton Road closed in 2007 and at one stage was set to be converted into a luxury home with indoor swimming pool, six bedrooms, five bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and gym.

Four other six-bedroom homes worth about £1 million each were planned to be built alongside the 1930s building, however plans were refused in 2010 and the site has since been used as an illegal car wash.

At a planning committee meeting next week, Walsall Council bosses are set to agree to proceed with enforcement action demanding that the car wash ceases and that a caravan being used as living accommodation on site be removed.

The owners will be given three months to comply with the authority's demands, which are to stop trading and clear the site, or face legal action.

Councillor Chris Towe, who represents the Pheasey Park Farm ward where the building is located, said: "In its heyday, the Three Crowns was a well used pub and it was a real landmark within the community.

"I have always considered the building to be something of an iconic building too, it was a key part of the area.

"Plans to build apartments on the site have been put forward over the years, which I really supported because I wanted us to keep the building but see it brought to life again.

"There was also a plan to turn it into one property but unfortunately for the applicant that couldn't be done.

"It is looking a bit sorry for itself these days, the building is damaged and it doesn't look great, so if the council want to pursue this action then I have to support that.

"It is on a key route into Walsall as well, so the worse it looks the more it will put people coming to Walsall."

The owners of the car wash were given temporary permission to use the site in 2011 but the council are now looking to move them off to improve the chances of regenerating the site.

Walsall Council's head of planning, Steve Pretty, said: "The hand car wash use previously gained temporary consent on this vacant site to allow for long term regeneration plans to come forward, such a scheme has not been forthcoming.

"The long term use of the site for a hand car wash is considered unacceptable as it has a detrimental impact on the visual amenity, of this prominent site and on the surrounding area, which is also important due to the location within the greenbelt."