Anger as 'leafy green area' disappears in Tettenhall
It’s not a sight you expect to see in a leafy suburb but cranes have again descended on Tettenhall as work continues to build retirement apartments.
The apartments, which are being built along Stockwell Road in Tettenhall, have previously caused controversy.
Council chiefs initially threw out the plans submitted by developers McCarthy and Stone who then got plans approved by the National Planning Inspectorate.
Councillor Jonathan Yardley, Conservative councillor for Tettenhall Regis ward, said: “They are an eyesore. You can see them from across the green. We are losing our leafy green area and just becoming rows of apartment blocks.
“It doesn’t just add insult to injury, this was our best conservation area with a neighbourhood plan in place that took us years to put together.
“Our aim was to protect all these places. But we didn’t stand a chance against the developers. They have upset the whole character of the area.”
Now the developers are building a total of 22 apartments on the land following the demolition of the historic so-called ‘Clock House’ that once stood on the site.
The house was once owned by Edward Swindley who donated Tettenhall’s landmark clock tower on Upper Green in 1911.
A scale model of the Tettenhall clock stood Mr Swindley’s garden and has been preserved by developers. A total of 230 residents had written to the council to object to the proposals to build on the land.
A petition with more than 160 signatures was also submitted.
Reasons for the objections included a potential increase in traffic on Stockwell Road and connecting roads; loss of trees and natural habitats; insufficient parking provision and a view that more retirement homes are not needed in the village.
A spokesperson for McCarthy & Stone, said: “Our new development on Stockwell Road, Tettenhall, received planning consent on appeal from the Planning Inspectorate and is currently under construction. The crane is expected to be removed from the site by late November.”
