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New homes plan for old Coseley Baths site

A controversial plan to build homes on the site of former swimming baths is back on the table – a year after a similar scheme stalled.

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People living near the Coseley Baths site have been left in the dark since a Dudley Council application to put 24 homes on the site was lodged last year.

The development failed to progress and it has now emerged the plans had to be amended due to opposition from residents. A new application is expected to be lodged in the coming weeks.

The 1.5-acre site, on Pear Tree Lane, has been fenced off since the baths were knocked down. They were controversially closed in 2009 despite a hard-fought campaign to keep them open.

Residents and councillors have demanded to know what is happening with the council-owned land.

Talk of any development went quiet after the application went in and no decision was made on it by council planning bosses – leaving residents questioning whether the homes would be built or not.

The application for eight two-bedroom, 10 three-bedroom and six four-bedroom homes was submitted in December 2015 by Public Sector PLC, which is a private company part owned by Dudley Council.

The application has yet to be re-submitted, meaning even if it finally gets the go-ahead any work on the new homes could be still be months away.

More than 40 people signed a petition against the development, raising a raft of complaints, including that the site being too small for the amount of properties proposed and the potential for a loss of light and privacy to existing homes.

Coseley councillor Melvyn Mottram said he had not heard anything about the future of the site but was hopeful there could be a solution to suit everybody.

He said: "The most important thing is residents are happy with it, as long as it doesn't affect them too much."

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for planning and economic development, said:

"The council received a number of comments from local residents when a planning application was submitted for the former Coseley Baths site last year.

"In response to those comments, the council has worked with the applicant to revise the application to include a new site layout and we expect a revised application to be submitted later this month."

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