Former rehab centre demolished to make way for new homes
It was a once a rehabilitation centre which helped hundreds of patients get back on their feet but now the building has met the bulldozer after standing empty for five years.
Demolition work at Rushall Mews in Walsall got under way at the start of the week.
The site at New Street, Rushall, has been cleared to make way for homes.
The centre, which was built in the 1980s, used to cater for people who had been discharged from hospital but it shut down in 2012 after being deemed no longer fit for purpose despite Walsall Council ploughing around £1m a year in to.
The service - and funding - was subsequently transferred to Hollybank House in Willenhall while the move affected 59 staff who had to be transferred to the council.
It has stood empty since with locals describing it as an 'eyesore' but was cast back into the spotlight this year when an application to level the building and develop 26 homes.
But the proposal was met with its fair share of controversy.
Councillor Richard Worrall expressed concerns on behalf of residents that dozens of trees would have to be cut down as part of the scheme while he among others raised issues with the fact that dozens of new homes would generate even more traffic to the area which is around the corner from the busy Lichfield Road.
Prior to a decision on the housing plans he had said: "I know that residents in the area are disappointed still that the centre was closed and hasn’t reopened it was a good site for its purpose. However, it has become an eyesore over the years."
Walsall Council's planning committee ultimately passed the scheme at a meeting in June with only one member on the panel voting to reject it.
The new homes will include 19 three-bedroom properties and seven four-bedroom houses.
