Flats plan for former pub and McDonald’s site in Brownhills
A derelict former McDonald’s restaurant and pub could make way for affordable apartments.
Walsall Council planners are currently assessing a proposal put forward by Fitzpatrick Group and Walsall Housing Group (whg) for 45 one and two-bedroom flats on the former Warreners Arms site in Brownhills.
The pub closed more than 20 years ago and a McDonald’s traded from the site, at the junction of High Street and Ogley Road, until 2004, and the building has fallen into disrepair.
A car wash and valeting business has operated from there for around 13 years, having secured temporary permissions on an annual basis.
The last of these extensions was granted at a planning committee meeting in July 2019 and politicians in the area said they were keen to see it redeveloped for housing.
If this application is approved, the pub will be demolished and a new complex built in its place, complete with a car park and communal garden for residents.
The 35 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom flats will be designated as affordable rental housing.
In the application, Oakley Architects said: “It is a number of years since it operated as a public house, closing in 1999 and has been a McDonald’s fast food outlet until 2004.
“The site itself has been operated as a hand car wash for a number of years on a temporary basis.
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“The former public house building has fallen into disrepair over a number of years and is now in a very poor condition, beyond economical retention.
“The demolition of the pub house building and the clearance of the site provides the opportunity to comprehensively redevelop this brownfield site, which is located on one of the primary routes into Brownhills town centre.
“The intention is to create a very high quality and contemporary new flagship affordable housing development, that achieves high levels of long-term sustainability, meeting the needs and expectations of the local community to create an attractive residential development.
“Fitzpatrick Group and whg are committed to providing a very high quality and sustainable affordable rented residential development.
“The development will create a new focal point building with its own modern character at the southern western end of Brownhills High Street.
“The development delivers a mix of one and two bedroom homes, that provide good sized and well-designed accommodation for the proposed residents.”
Planners are anticipated to make a decision on the proposal in the new year.
