Nursery plan for former Wolverhampton church is refused again
Plans to convert a redundant Methodist church in Wolverhampton into a children’s day nursery have been rejected for a second time.
Wednesfield Methodist Church in Wood End Road was closed several years ago due to dwindling congregations, and has since only been used for occasional community functions.
A planning application to turn the premises into a full-time day nursery for 42 children was submitted in February last year by former Wolverhampton social worker Kirkwood Walker, but later rejected. A further bid was refused again this week.
Mr Walker, also a five times world kickboxing champion, first launched his family-run business Little Walkers in 2004 with a nursery in Merridale. Further facilities followed in Bradmore in 2016 and Coseley in 2020.
Planners refused the latest application due to concerns over the volume of traffic and parking availability, and also on the grounds that the building could be used as a valuable community meeting place.
In a statement refusing permission, planning officer Martyn Gregory said: “Wednesfield Methodist Church on Wood End Road is in an area that has been identified as being outside of a ‘highly accessible’ area and is a classified road that can attract high volumes of traffic throughout the day.
“The proposed development provides six parking spaces which fails to meet its own transportation needs, resulting in an unacceptable detrimental impact to pedestrian safety and the safe and free flow of road traffic.
“In order to address the inadequate parking provision for the proposed use, the applicant has attempted to reach an agreement with a nearby pub – The Castle – to use part of its car park for overspill parking. However, the agreement submitted as part of the application is an unsigned personal agreement with the licensee of the pub and not with the owners of the premises.
“In this respect, the ‘parking agreement’ is not fit for purpose and would not provide sufficient security for the required parking spaces to support the proposed nursery use. The proposed change of use from redundant Methodist church to children’s day nursery would also result in the loss of a community meeting place,” he added.
The application had outlined plans to employ eight full-time staff, with operating hours between 7.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday.
