Flats plan proposed for former Rowley Regis day centre site
A planning application has been submitted to build ‘affordable’ flats on the site of a former Rowley Regis day centre and library.
SWG Construction and Sandwell Council has revealed plans to build eight one, three and four-bed flats in Harvest Road, Rowley Regis.
The former Harvest Road day centre had served as a library for more than a decade before being demolished.
Housing officers at Sandwell Council said there was a “critical shortage” of three and four-bed flats for families needing more space – which has been reflected in the mix of flats proposed in the application.
The high demand for one-bed flats from those classed with a ‘non-emergency’ need – such as overcrowding – was nearly a year according to the council’s figures with ‘very high’ waits of more than four years for a three-bed flat and nearly nine years for four-bed flats.
The council granted permission to demolish the former library in 2022 and also gave the green light to an application by the NHS to build eight houses on the land in the previous year.
The former Harvest Road day centre was converted into a special library service – which supplied books to the elderly, disabled and nursing home – in 2012.
The application said the library service was due to move out of the building leaving it empty.
The flats would be built opposite the flagship Harvest View nursing home which opened in 2022.
The 80-bed care facility brings together health and social care staff to help people back into the home after hospital stays.
SWG Construction and Sandwell Council is also considering a similar housing scheme near the new Horseley Road metro stop in Tipton.
