Demolition of Wolverhampton nursing homes gets go-ahead

Merry Hill House in Langley Road, Nelson Mandela House in Whitburn Close, Warstones House Resource Centre in Warstones Gardens, and Woden Resource Centre, in Vicarage Road, are all set to be flattened after Wolverhampton city council gave plans the go-ahead.

The facilities are now due to be bulldozed, despite the best efforts of residents and families to keep them.

Trade union Unison had presented the council with a petition signed by 5,637 people who wanted to save Merry Hill House and Nelson Mandela House, which is also set to go.

But despite the petition, handed in last November, the authority's Cabinet agreed to scrap the services in a move that is expected to save the authority around £2.6 million.

Warstones Resource Centre had been earmarked to be transformed into a community building, featuring a library, health centre, meeting room and cafeteria, but the city council shelved the plans in 2014.

Notice

On demolition notice forms from the council for all four properties, it says: "Your application to determine whether prior approval was required in respect of your proposed demolition has been duly considered.

"You are hereby notified that the method of the proposed demolition (and restoration of the site) do not require the council's prior approval. The proposed demolition may be carried out."

Two months prior to the demolitions, for which no dates have yet been set, Severn Trent will need to disconnect the water service from the mains.

Both staff and patients have been transferred to other sites in the city.

At a heated council meeting last year, Adrian Turner from Unison presented the petition to the council's planning committee before telling them: "If you had wanted more signatures, we could have got more signatures.

"There is no creative thinking in these proposals, it is quite the opposite.

"Do the service users want these proposals? No. Do the staff want these proposals? No. Do the public of Wolverhampton want these proposals? No.

"It is time to listen to the people of Wolverhampton."

A council spokesman said previously: "The council is planning to demolish these buildings and is considering future options for each of the sites."

Councillor Andrew Johnson, Cabinet member for resources, said: "These are all buildings that are surplus to requirements that are now going to be bulldozed before it's decided what happens next."