Plan to demolish an 'eyesore' Black Country pub for new flats and shops approved

Under plans by developer SEP Properties, the former Friar Park Inn in Crankhall Lane, Wednesbury, would be demolished and replaced with 14 new flats and a shop.

Neighbours objected, saying the work would lead to a loss of privacy and affect the price of their properties.

The application was backed unanimously by Sandwell Council’s planning committee at a meeting on Wednesday (February 19).

Sandwell Council approved plans to demolish the former Friar Park Inn in Wednesbury more than two years ago, and after several complaints over the site’s state, a planning application was put forward last summer.

Cllr Liam Preece said adding new flats would be a “real positive” given the decaying former pub was an eyesore.

“The current state of the site is creating quite a significant problem for the surrounding area,” he said at the planning meeting on February 19. “I think this will solve a problem rather than create one.”

According to the application submitted to Sandwell Council, the three-storey building includes space for a ground-floor shop, and 35 parking spaces would also be built.

The pub was sold to SEP Properties for £495,000 in 2022.

Permission was granted to demolish the empty pub in December 2022. The council said several complaints had been made regarding the state of the site, which led to the application to demolish the pub. However, the pub has still not been demolished, leading to more complaints.

A statement included with the application said: “An extensive period of design development has resulted in a scheme that will provide high-quality accommodation and retail space, providing a reasonable number of new homes for residents in the Friar Park estate.”

Plans for the Friar Park ‘urban village’ include a further 600 new homes and improvements to the nearby Millennium Community Centre in Friar Park Road.

Housing developer Persimmon also plans to build 105 homes on fields next to the estate’s High Point Academy.