Special school plans for £1m landmark home in Wednesbury withdrawn

The four-bed Round House in Reservoir Passage, a stone’s throw from Wednesbury town centre, which comes with a tennis court, swimming pool and its own windmill, was due to be converted into a school for children with social, emotional, and mental health issues and learning difficulties.

The hilltop home, which took more than 25 years to build, was sold to Birmingham-based Spring Hill High School but its plans to convert the building into a school for up to 30 children were met with scepticism by Sandwell Council over how parents and carers would access and park at the school and whether it would cause traffic problems for the area.

The planning application, which was submitted on December 23 last year, has now been withdrawn according to Sandwell Council.

The local authority’s highways department said it was concerned over the lack of information in the plans – noting a big difference between a four-bed family home and a school serving 30 pupils and 20 staff with the ‘extremely narrow’ Reservoir Passage also unsuitable for two-way traffic.

The council was also unclear over whether pupils would arrive by foot, car, minibus or taxi – all of which would cause different levels of traffic especially at drop-off and pick-up times on school days and also affect neighbours.

Work on the striking home began in the 1980s, and it was constructed using salvaged and recycled materials from old houses, schools, factories and churches across the West Midlands including bricks, steel joints, iron pillars and heavy stone lifted in by crane.

The site was sold last year by owner Matthew Humphries following the death of his parents David and Elizabeth who were part of four generations to run the family demolition business beginning in 1919.